Dr. Yun Song Tay, Conductor
“LAUGHTER IS TIMELESS, IMAGINATION HAS NO AGE, DREAMS ARE FOREVER” - Walt Disney
GSYO kicks off its 60th Anniversary Season with a sprinkle of magic. Presenting the nostalgic last symphony of Prokofiev, composer of Peter and The Wolf (1946 Disney Adaptation) and Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Waltz (1959 Disney Adaptation), along with the passionate Violin Concerto No. 3 by Saint-Saëns and Dvorak’s energetic Carnival Overture as the curtain raiser.
Featuring Lisa Saito, a dynamic, ten year-old virtuoso violinist you won’t want to miss! Lisa is a 5th grader at Fairmeadow Elementary School in Palo Alto. She began violin lessons at age three and piano lessons at age four in Japan before moving with her family to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2018, where she currently studies with Ms. Robin Sharp.
She made her orchestral debut this past July with the Stanford Summer Symphony conducted by Mr. Paul Phillips at the Bing Concert Hall.
Lisa has been a member of the Golden State Youth Orchestra for the last three years and is currently the youngest member of the Senior Symphony. Lisa has attended Music at Tateuchi and the Santa Clara Chamber Music and Young Musicians Academy. She was selected to perform at the Junior Bach Festivals in 2020 - 2022 and has won several violin awards, including the Music International Grand Prix 2021, the KAMSA (Korean-American Music Supporters’ Association) Competition, and the 2022 USOMC (the United States Open Music Competition) Instrumental Ensemble.