The West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mitchell Arnold, will present its annual Young Artists Concert Thursday (March 20).

The program begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre at the Creative Arts Center on WVU s Evansdale Campus.

The concert is the culmination of WVU s annual Young Artists Competition, organized by the Division of Music in the College of Creative Arts. The competition is open to all full-time junior, senior and graduate student music majors, and the winners represent the highest level of student performance at the University.

This years winners and the works from which they will perform are as follows:

• Pianist Nathan Strasser , a native of Wheeling,Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra,by George Gershwin. Strasser is pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies at WVU . He is a piano student of professor James Miltenberger. Strasser is a two-time winner of the Music Teachers National Association piano competition for West Virginia, a three-time winner of the outstanding soloist award at WVU s Jazz Festival, a Pittsburgh Concert Society Young Artist winner and a recipient of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for outstanding achievement by an instrumentalist in the field of jazz. He has also achieved colleague certification with the American Guild of Organists.

• Pianist Kyoung Cha ,Concerto in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 73,by Ludwig van Beethoven. Cha is currently in her first year of doctoral work at WVU , studying piano with music professor Peter Amstutz. In her native Korea, Cha earned her bachelors and masters degrees from Kyungwon University. After graduation, she joined the faculty of Kyungwons Music Department as an accompanist. Cha received a graduate performance diploma from the Boston Conservatory, where she studied with professor Jung Ja Kim. She is a founding member of the Boston Piano Quintet, a chamber music group which won Boston Conservatorys honors competition.

• Bassoonist Jessica Madison ,Concerto in A Minor for Bassoon, Strings and Cembalo, PV 72 ,by Antonio Vivaldi. Madison is currently pursuing her masters degree in music performance at WVU , where she studies bassoon with Division of Music faculty member Lynn Hileman. Originally from Columbia, Md., Madison received her bachelors from WVU and previously studied with Richard Beene at the University of Michigan. She has performed with the Clarksburg Symphony Orchestra and the Great Lakes Opera Orchestra in Ann Arbor, Mich. Madison teaches bassoon with the WVU Community Music Program. She also teaches applied bassoon and chamber music at Waynesburg University and performs in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

• Bassoonist Scott Bartlett ,Concertino for Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra,by Francisco Mignone. Bartlett, also a student studying with Hileman, is a junior pursuing his bachelors in music performance. A native of Baltimore, Scott previously studied with Peter Kolkay, formerly of the WVU music faculty, and Richard Spittel. While at WVU , he has performed with the woodwind quintet,Fitzi!,comprised of talented musicians from New York, Maryland and West Virginia. The Young Artists Concert will be Scotts solo debut with an orchestra.

For tickets and information about the Young Artists Concert, contact the College of Creative Arts at 304-293-SHOW.