An unassuming and modest 15 year old boy, Ryan Jannak-Huang plays the piano with the grace and skill of a professional musician more than twice his age. He has been studying under his aunt, the nationally renowned educator Brenda Huang, for 10 years. Under her guiding hand, Ryan and twin brother Kyle have won numerous awards and competitions locally and across the country. Ryan took second place in the MTNA (Music Teacher’s National Association) National Piano Competition and was a finalist in the Crain-Maling Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra Youth Auditions. He also placed first in the Milwaukee Chopin Youth Piano Competition Junior Division. Even with all those accolades under one’s belt, the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 is a devilish and daunting work. When asked why he would choose such a work to enter a competition, Jannak-Huang told the story of studying an excerpt from the work in 7th grade.

 

from ChicagoMusic.org

The beginning of awards season for the top names in music, movies and TV began on Sunday with the Golden Globe Awards. One of the top films of 2012, Lincoln, has an Illinois connection, and no, it's not just that the 16th president hails from the state. John Williams scored the film, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra recorded the music for the soundtrack.  Williams, nicknamed “America’s Composer”, has been in the movie business for nearly fifty years. Here are a few fun facts about Williams you may not know.

Last May I graduated with a master’s degree in cello performance. I took entire semester-long seminars on Mahler, Schumann and Purcell, played in both large and small ensembles, gave a degree recital and received a diploma. Then, along with many of my colleagues, I started to freak out.

Fulcrum Point musicians, Flamenco dancer Chiara Mangiameli, and the Sones de Mexico Ensemble are creating quite the musical mashup next week, when arts education and new music and Latin culture come together.

In a performance benefiting Fulcrum Point’s Sound Tracks education programming, the Fiesta Latina is definitely a celebration of music and dance says Stephen Burns, executive director of Fulcrum Point.

Tuesday’s concert promises to be a combination of music and dance, and something Chicago-based flamenco dancer Chiara Mangiameli (who you might remember from the Looking Glass production of Rick Bayless’ Cascabel), has been working long and hard on with her students in Soundtracks. She says her own love of dance, particularly the story that comes with the flamenco music is really exciting for the kids.

When Inna Faliks launched Music/Words five years ago in New York City, the concept was born out of her own inspiration from the literature she loved.  The series brings together poets and musicians in performance, to find new creative energy and reach new audiences.  The program has featured musicians like Chicago cellist Wendy Warner and pianist Leon Livshin, and poets like Mark Levine, Sandra Beasley, and Jesse Ball.