Suzuki students set for debut

Local musical enthusiasts will be treated to a concert from 12 young violinists from across the country.

The students of the Brian Lewis Young Artist Program, which enters its second year at the Ottawa Suzuki Institute summer program, will give their first public performance 7 p.m. Thursday at Washburn Towers, Fifth and Main streets, Ottawa.

“They are wonderful players and the orchestra accompanying them is a professional orchestra,” Alice Joy Lewis, Ottawa Suzuki Strings, said.

Each of the 12 students, who were selected for the program by a national selection committee and have their tuition covered by a grant from the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation, will perform a movement from one of Mozart’s five violin concertos.

“It’s an opportunity for them to be a soloist in an orchestra,” Lewis said of the students who range in age from 10 to 17.

“It’s really a fascinating component of the program,” she added.

The concertmaster of the orchestra will be Simon James, who is the assistant concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

James, who hails from Australia, has been with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra since 1988. This is his first summer teaching at the Ottawa Suzuki Institute summer program, although he has had students attend in the past.

“His teaching is outstanding,” Lewis said.

The concert is free and open to the public, Lewis said.

“I think people will really enjoy it.”