Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra to present Young Performers concert March 11

The Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra will present its annual Young Performers concert Celebrate Youth! at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 11.

The concert will take place at Ottawa High School, 211 E. Main St., under the baton of Music Director Daniel Sommerville and highlights winners of the junior and senior divisions of the IVSO Concerto Competition, that took place Jan. 7.

Senior division winner Emily Kmetz is a mezzo-soprano from La Salle who will be performing the recitative and aria “Che faro senza mi Euridice?” from “Orpheus and Euridice” by Christopher W. Gluck. Kmetz has been an active young performer in the La Salle-Peru area, including appearances in Stage 212 productions “Annie,” “White Christmas” and “Into the Woods.”” She is also set to star as Wednesday Addams in La Salle-Peru High School’s upcoming spring musical, “The Addams Family.”

Seventh-grader Jadyn Leone is the junior division winner. Leone attends Peru Catholic School and is a resident of Spring Valley. She has performed in the Mendota Education Foundation show “Matilda,” Stage 212′s production of “The Lion King, Jr.” and placed as an honorable mention in the IVSO Young Performers Competition in 2021. She will be performing the Recitative and Aria “Angels, Ever Bright and Fair” from “Theodora” by George Frederic Handel. Both Leone and Kmetz study voice with Jenilyn Roether.

Saturday’s concert will also feature several other works, including  “Overture to The Wasps” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, “Scherzo Fantastique” by Josef Suk and “Appalachian Spring” by Aaron Copland.

Tickets are available online at ivso.org and at the door. Adult tickets are $20, college student tickets are $5 with ID and students kindergarten through 12th grade are free.

All IVSO concert venues are ADA accessible. Questions about accessibility can be sent to accessibility@ivso.org.

This program is partially supported by a grant from The Arts of Starved Rock Country Fund and the Illinois Arts Council Agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional sponsorships from the Miller Group Charitable Trust and Ottawa Radio (WCMY/WRLX).