"The Highland Park Strings"

The "Strings" orchestra  was founded in 1979 by Mr. Lawrence Block and a small band of chamber music aficionados -- many of whom still share the joy of making music together, as they embark upon their 26th season with great pride (ca 2004-2005). To date, the Strings have a repertoire of more than 282 works spanning three centuries including contemporary compositions.  The Park District of the city of Highland Park is a major sponsor of the organization.  This unique orchestra also is sustained by corporate and individual contributions.

Violinist, Yang Liu

First prize winner in the 1993 China National Violin Competition at age 17 and a 2002 prize winner at the  Twelfth International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in Moscow, Yang Liu, 28, is quickly becoming known as one of the most important Chinese violinists of his generation. In his Strings debut, he will perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto, perhaps the best-loved in the repertoire. The companion work on the program, Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony, with the breadth and sweep of its unique finale predicts the heroic accent that the entire symphony was to acquire with Beethoven.

Born in the People's Republic of China, Liu has concert-ized in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Poland, Russia, Greece and Egypt. In 2002, he made his American debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and has since performed with the St. Louis Symphony and at the Aspen Music Festival. http://www.slso.org/

He came to the United States in 1998 as a Starling Fellowship student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under the legendary Dorothy DeLay with whom he also studied at the Aspen Music Festival. He has appeared frequently as soloist with the Starling Chamber Orchestra, including two recent tours to his homeland.

His debut recording, "Song of Nostalgia," released in 2001 features traditional Chinese songs and virtuosic violin repertoire. Liu, who is newly appointed professor of violin at Roosevelt University (ca. 2004), College of Performing Arts, performs on a 1640 Niccolo Amati violin (on loan by the Stradivari Society of Chicago).