SOLOISTS
25
26
Yang Zhou, alto saxophone
Artist Presentation Society Competition winner
October 17, 2025
Yang Zhou, born in Dali, China, is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts in saxophone performance at the University of Iowa, where he studies with Dr. Kenneth Tse.
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Yang holds a Master of Arts in saxophone performance from Truman State University, where he studied with Dr. Xin Gao and served as a graduate teaching and research assistant. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in China, where he was a two-time recipient of the China National Scholarship under the mentorship of Qiang Chen and Professor Yusheng Li.​​
An award-winning saxophonist, Yang has gained recognition in national and international competitions. He was a finalist in the 2024 University of Iowa Concerto Competition, winner of the 2022 SIYAO Southern Illinois Young Artist Organization Instrumental Competition, and first prize recipient in both the 2021 MMTA Collegiate Woodwind Graduate State-Level Competition and the Truman State University Gold Medal Competition. Additionally, he advanced to the live rounds of the prestigious 2023 Adolphe Sax International Competition (Dinant, Belgium) and the 2022 Walter W. Naumburg Saxophone Competition (New York, NY), showcasing his artistry on a global stage.
​Yang currently performs as the baritone saxophonist for the Dimma Saxophone Quartet and the tubax/bass saxophonist for the Iowa Saxophonists’ Workshop. His 2025 engagements include performances at the U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium (Fairfax, VA), the North American Saxophone Alliance Regional Conference (Brookings, SD), and the 20th World Saxophone Congress (Harbin, China).
Eric Chen, violin
Young Artist Concerto Competition Winner
November 21, 2025
Eric Chen, a Senior at Marquette High School, began learning violin at the age of six. He is currently a student of Pavel Ilyashov.
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Eric made his solo debut at age 12, playing Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No.2 in D Minor with the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra. His most recent awards include: 2025 National YoungArts award winner and scholar, 2nd and 3rd place winner in the 12th (2025) and 11th (2024) Editions of the ENKOR International Music Competition, and winner of the St. Louis Philharmonic Young Artist Competition (2025). Eric is a four-time winner of the Missouri MTNA Strings competition (2021-2024). He also competed in the national finals of the MTNA Junior Strings competition, having won the Missouri and West Central divisions, in 2021. Eric’s chamber group won the audience prize in the 2025 Saint Paul String Quartet National Competition.
Eric made his solo debut at age 12, playing Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No.2 in D Minor with the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra. His most recent awards include: 2025 National YoungArts award winner and scholar, 2nd and 3rd place winner in the 12th (2025) and 11th (2024) Editions of the ENKOR International Music Competition, and winner of the St. Louis Philharmonic Young Artist Competition (2025). Eric is a four-time winner of the Missouri MTNA Strings competition (2021-2024). He also competed in the national finals of the MTNA Junior Strings competition, having won the Missouri and West Central divisions, in 2021. Eric’s chamber group won the audience prize in the 2025 Saint Paul String Quartet National Competition.
Eric is in his 5th season with the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra and has been the co-principal and 1st violin, 2nd chair, for the past three seasons. He has also played chamber music in the CMS Preparatory Program, the Rader Young Artist Program, and most recently with the St. Louis Chamber Music Society. In past summers, Eric has studied at various music festivals, including Ascent International Chamber Music Festival, Vivace International Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and Northwestern University Summer Violin Institute.
Eric has served as the regional director of the Back to Bach Project for the past four years, overseeing the St. Louis region, and has hosted several events in local public schools, as well as in video format, to contribute to this nationwide program.
Outside the concert hall, Eric enjoys playing tennis, gaming, and spending time with his brothers. Eric is an active member of the Very Asian Foundation, promoting Asian Arts and Literature in the local community.
Hannah Ji, violin
St. Louis Symphony Assistant Concertmaster
February 27, 2026
​As a soloist, Ji made her SLSO debut in October 2022 performing Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ Violin Concerto No. 2, conducted by Jonathon Heyward. She recently performed with the Missouri River of the Arts Festival Orchestra with SLSO’s former Assistant Conductor Stephanie Childress, and with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra with Guillermo Figueroa. Ji’s performances have been widely publicized on NPR’s “From the Top,” Philadelphia’s WHYY, Taos’ KTAOS Solar Radio, and “Live from Lincoln Center” by PBS, which broadcast throughout North America. She performed at the United States Embassy of Canada, Canada Day concerts with Pinchas Zukerman at the National Arts Centre, with pianist Jeremy Denk for the non-profit organization, “The Art of Giving Back,” and a Gala Concert with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Lincoln Center.
​Ji has toured Europe with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as Guest Associate Concertmaster. She also served as Guest Concertmaster with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Associate Concertmaster with the Music in the Mountains Festival in Durango, Colorado, and with the Sun Valley Music Festival in Idaho. Ji previously served as Concertmaster and Principal Second with Symphony in C, Spoleto Festival USA, YMF Debut Orchestra, The Colburn School Orchestra, The Juilliard School Orchestra and Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Additional music festival appearances include the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, Music Academy of the West, Taos School of Music, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Summit Music Festival and the National Arts Centre’s Young Artist Programme.
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An avid classical and contemporary chamber musician, Ji has collaborated with renowned groups and artists including Jamie Laredo, Jennifer Koh, Roberto Díaz, The Borromeo String Quartet, The Calidore String Quartet and Time for Three. She has worked with members of the Borromeo, Brentano, Shanghai, Emerson, Guarneri and Orion String Quartets. Ji has been an active participant in The Juilliard School’s ChamberFest and Focus! Festival, which features U.S. and world premieres of works by composers around the world. She was also a contemporary ensemble artist at Atlantic Music Festival, and performed at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra: Live at the Pulitzer series. Ji also performs frequently with the Missouri Chamber Music Festival, Ariel Concert Series, and the Chamber Music Society of St. Louis.
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As a mentor and teacher, Ji has held faculty positions at the Bronx Conservatory of Music, Manhattan in the Mountains Festival, Curtis SummerFest Young Artists Program & Adult Chamber Music Program, and The Danbury Music Centre’s Chamber Music Intensive. She was a substitute faculty member at The Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, and currently enjoys working as a mentor through the SLSO’s Mentoring the Music: Peer to Peer program.
Lux Nova Duo:
Celso Cano, guitar
Lydia Schmidl, accordian
April 24, 2026
Copyright: Vera Drebusch
"Fantastic, bravo! I can see your deep musical work!“– Cuban conductor and composer (Grammy winner 2017),
Leo Brouwer to the Lux Nova Duo
Lydia Schmidl is a versatile accordionist and teacher who is constantly pushing the boundaries of her instrument with dedication. As a lecturer in accordion at the University of the Arts in Bremen, she passes on her artistic experience to the next generation and shapes a lively accordion scene in northern Germany.
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Contemporary music is a particular focus of her work. Lydia Schmidl regularly collaborates with numerous composers and has premiered several works written especially for her. In 2025, she performed the premiere of Latin Grammy winner Leo Brouwers' Canticós de un chamán invisible for solo accordion – a work that explores the healing and spiritual power of music. Mario Marys Bipolar fluid for accordion and electronics is one of the outstanding projects of recent years. As a soloist, Lydia Schmidl inspires audiences with her expressive musical language and her sense of dramatic depth. She has performed works by Astor Piazzolla, Alejandro Nuñez Allauca, and Sofia Gubaidulina and has given concerts with, among others, the Coro de Madrigalistas de la Universidad Católica (Peru) and the chamber ensemble Konsonanz at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg.
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In addition to her solo career, Lydia Schmidl is also intensely involved in chamber music. Together with guitarist Jorge Paz Verastegui gründete sie das international erfolgreiche Lux Nova Duo, which is the only ensemble of its kind to consistently work on expanding the repertoire for accordion and guitar. More than 35 works have been dedicated to the duo, including pieces by Leo Brouwer, José María Sánchez-Verdú, and Fabian Panisello. Their concerts have taken the duo to renowned venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie, the Glocke Bremen, and the national theaters of Costa Rica and Peru. The world premiere of Leo Brouwer's double concerto with string ensemble was broadcast live on Deutschlandfunk Kultur.
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Ihre CDs Inspiración Bach (Genuin, 2020) and Meeting Leo Brouwer were nominated several times for the German Record Critics' Award and received excellent international acclaim. Radio stations such as BBC, ORF 1, SRF 2 Kultur, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, and Bremen Zwei reported on the album, which sensitively combines classical and contemporary music. Their current CD Transcend (Genuin 2023) was recorded with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. It contains exclusively first recordings of double concertos.
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As an orchestral musician, she has performed with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the baton of Alan Gilbert, broadcast live on Arte Concert from the Grand Hall of the Elbphilharmonie. Engagements with the Ensemble New Babylon Bremen and the Komponistenforum Osnabrück have led to collaborations with composers such as Rebecca Saunders, Klaus Huber, and Younghi Pagh-Paan.
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Lydia Schmidl received her training at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar under Prof. Ivan Koval and at the University of the Arts Bremen under Prof. Margit Kern, where she completed her master's degree in accordion in 2015. She also received important artistic inspiration from Prof. Claudia Buder and Prof. Iñaki Alberdi at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona. She is a recipient of the Carl Müllerhartung Scholarship from the Swiss Thyll Foundation and a former scholarship holder of the Artist Program. stART.up der Claussen-Simon-Stiftung
Prior to his appointment at Florida State University, Celso Cano held faculty positions at Nova Southeastern University, the Bronx Conservatory of Music, and the Bloomingdale School of Music in New York City. His artistic interests center on performing both early and contemporary
music and expanding the guitar repertoire through transcription and original composition. As a performer, Cano has received numerous prizes and honors, including awards at the Andrés Segovia Competition in Spain and the D’Addario Foundation Fellowship. His Eclipse for guitar, cello, and percussion was composed and performed while in residence at the Baryshnikov ArtsCenter in New York City. His solo guitar work Souvenirs received the Ignacio Cervantes Prize at the 2019 Leo Brouwer International Composition Competition.
Born in Lima, Peru, Cano moved to the United States at the age of eleven. He began classical guitar studies with Lou Mowad in South Florida in 1987. While in high school, he attended the Stetson International Guitar Workshop, performing in masterclasses with Stephen Robinson and Adam Holzman. He earned the B.M. in Guitar Performance from the University of Arizona, where he studied with Thomas Patterson, and the M.M. from Florida International University, where he studied with Rafael Padrón and Mesut Özgen. At FIU, he also studied lute with lutenist and musicologist David Dolata. Cano was the first guitarist to win the School of Music’s annual concerto competition, performing Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the FIU Symphony Orchestra under the direction of James Judd. He earned the D.M. in Guitar Performance from Florida State University, where he studied with world-renowned guitar professor Bruce Holzman.
Cano has performed at international festivals and has served as an adjudicator for international guitar competitions. In Fall 2026, he will premiere a new guitar concerto, Concierto de Florida, written and dedicated to him by Leo Brouwer with the University Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Jiménez.