Pianist Matthew Lorenz, winner of the 2016 Young Artists Concerto Competition, is one of the featured performers in the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra holiday concert Sunday in the Empire Arts Center in downtown Grand Forks.
Lorenz, a senior at UND, will perform the Franz Liszt piece he played to win the competition, sponsored by the symphony last spring.
The piece "is rigorous and incredibly interesting," he said. "It's fun to listen to, it has lots of ideas, and it's helped me to grow as a pianist."
The symphony's "Down Home Christmas" concert also will present guest artist Maryann Kyle, soprano, and several orchestra members who will perform solos.
Under the direction of Alejandro Drago, the concert will include traditional music from the '40s and '50s and Baroque-era music showcasing the talents of soloists Simona Barbu and Naomi Welsh, cello, and Tammy Auer and Gerald Gaul, viola. Kyle has performed in Broadway shows and shared the concert stage with renowned artists including Patti Labelle, Dionne Warwick and Patti Austin.
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She is director of musical theater voice at the International Performing Arts Institute in Germany and professor of voice at The University of Southern Mississippi.
Her performance of "Oh Holy Night" will conclude the concert program.
Early interest in music
Lorenz began playing piano at the age of 9. He plays a number of other instruments, but the piano "just clicked with me," he said.
A multitalented musician and composer, he is enrolled in the honors program at UND and is majoring in piano performance and mathematics.
"At 16, I started playing more serious music and entered competitions," he said.
As a senior in high school, he played a Bach concerto for the Young Artists Solo Competition, sponsored by the Fargo Moorhead Symphony Orchestra.
"It was a great experience for me; I really enjoyed playing it," he said. "I didn't win, but I got back into it and refined my technique."
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When he entered another competition he didn't win, "I used it as an opportunity to learn from my mistakes and deepen my appreciation of music itself," he said.
He went on to perform in, and win, several local and state competitions.
Other instruments
Lorenz also has been playing the cello-an instrument he plays as a member of the Grand Forks Symphony-since he was 10
"I also experiment with percussion instruments, I'm pretty fluent with most of the strings, and I play guitar," he said.
His experimentation extends to using technology, such as the cellphone, as an instrumental medium to compose music and create "a sound environment."
He's captivated by the earliest evidence of human music-making, as illustrated in European cave paintings dating back to ancient civilizations.
"Sound is essential to being human," he said. "It's about how we express ourselves and our most deep thoughts that are not expressible in words."
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Lorenz is the son of Pamela and Gary Lorenz, Fargo, and grandson of Melva and Clark Becker, Inkster, N.D.
If you go
• What: "Down Home Christmas" concert by the Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra.
• When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
• Where: Empire Arts Center, 415 DeMers Ave., Grand Forks.
• Tickets: Adults, $26; student and military, $16. Purchase tickets at the door, call (701) 746-5500 or go to www.empireartscenter.com .
Pre-concert talk by Symphony Conductor Alejandro Drago begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
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