Family Concert “Musical Excursions!” Features Winner of Pre-College Concerto Competition, 14-Year Cellist Yasmine Kocan
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Stony Brook, NY, February 23, 2015
—The University Orchestra at Stony Brook University will present “Musical Excursions!,” its annual Family Concert, featuring 14-year-old cellist Yasmine Kocan, winner of the 2014 Stony Brook University Pre-College Concerto Competition. Kocan is currently a freshman at Riverhead High School. “Musical Excursions!” comes to the Staller Center for the Arts’ Main Stage Tuesday, March 3rd at 7:30 p.m.
This one-hour interactive concert conducted by Susan Deaver of the University Orchestra Department of Music, will feature Kocan performing the first movement of “Cello Concerto in E Minor,” by English composer Sir Edward Elgar. In addition, “Music Excursions!” will take the audience to on a worldwide-tour including highlights from the movie “Frozen”; outer space with performances of “Jupiter” from Holst’s “The Planets” and musical travels to England, France, Spain and the Americas.
Tickets are all $5 for this year’s Family Concert. For more tickets or more information please contact the Staller Center Box Office or call 
631.632.ARTS.
About Yasmine Kocan, Cellist and
Winner of the 2014 Stony Brook University Pre-College Concerto Competition
Yasmine Kocan was selected as the Winner of the 2014 Stony Brook University Pre-College Concerto Competition from the all students attending the Pre-College Music Program. She studies chamber music under chamber music coach Tomoko Fujita.
Yasmine began playing cello in sixth grade. The cello quickly became a passion for her and after a year of public school instruction, she was asked to participate in an open rehearsal with the Perlman Music Program offered through East End Arts School. The opportunity to play under the baton of Maestro Itzhak Perlman and meeting the other students infused her musical appetite. Yasmine began lessons and continues to study privately with Jeanie Woelker at the East End Arts School.
Yasmine is a freshman at Riverhead High School where she is the principal cellist in both the Ninth Grade Orchestra and the Riverhead High School Chamber Ensemble. She has participated with the Hampton Music Educators Association, Suffolk County Music Educators’ Association and the Long Island Strong Festival Association music festivals. In September 2013, she was accepted to The Music Masters Fellowship Program conducted by cellist and conductor Nico O’larte Hayes. Yasmine is a member of the Metropolitan Youth Principal Orchestra, conducted by Phil Preddice and has performed with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra at the Tilles Center and Carnegie Hall.
Yasmine plans to continue her cello studies into college in hopes of becoming a professional cellist. She hopes to attend a summer music program where she can continue playing music and socialize with other young musicians.
About The
University Orchestra at Stony Brook University
Comprised ofa 70-member all-student ensemble of undergraduate students, the University Orchestra presents a series of concerts each year at Staller Center including the “Messiah Sing-Along” and the Family Concert. Susan Deaver, conductor of the University Orchestra, has conducted orchestras in the United States, Europe and Asia and is a member of the music faculty at Stony Brook University. In addition to her conducting at the university, she is currently the Music Director and Conductor of the North Shore Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of Long Island Youth Orchestra, and on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Division.
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Reporter Contact: Joan Behan-Duncan
Stony Brook University; Office of Media Relations
631-632-6310; www.stonybrook.edu/news; @sbunewsdesk
