Sunday, April 8, 2018

DailyHerald.com: Cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing is Guest Artist at Elgin [Illinois] Symphony Orchestra Concerts April 10-11

Ifetayo Ali-Landing
(Kevin Kennedy)


Elgin, Illinois

Cellist Ifetayo Ali-Landing, junior winner of the 2017 Sphinx Organization Competition, will be the guest artist at Elgin Symphony Orchestra Ainsworth Concerts for Youth April 10-11.

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra is offering general admission tickets to the Ainsworth Concerts for Youth concerts at 11:15 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, April 10-11, at the Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way in Elgin. Tickets are $10; taxes and fees apply.

Advance purchase is required by 3 p.m. Monday, April 9. For information, see ElginSymphony.org.

The concerts, led by resident conductor Stephen Squires, feature 15-year-old cellist Ifetayo Ali Landing, the junior winner of the 2017 Sphinx Organization Competition and a Chicago native.

The 45-minute program, "Music Emojis: Feelings, Connections, Life," explores how music expresses emotion.

ESO Ainsworth Concerts for Youth are designed to introduce children in second to eighth grade to the fundamentals of music and to generate an interest in learning how to play an instrument.

The 2018 concerts include works by traditional and contemporary composers like George F. Handel, Gustav Mahler, Danny Elfman, Jennifer Higdon and John Williams. It is sponsored by Sterling Ainsworth, James and Ruth Ann Snodgrass and the Elgin Symphony League.

Seven hundred and fifty students from Elgin Area School District U-46 are able to attend due to a generous grant from the Bear Family Restaurants and the U-46 Foundation.

Guest artist Ifetayo Ali-Landing began her musical studies on violin as soon as she was able to stand. At age 3, she decided that she preferred the mellow sounds of the cello and begged her mother to switch. At age 4, she was playing the cello. Ifetayo was selected as one of the winners of the 2016 DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers competition and performed as soloist with the Festival's Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, she has placed or received honorable mentions for the Society of American Musicians competition, DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Musicians competition, and the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius competition.

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