Performance Today Names Five Students for 2022-2023 Young Artists in Residence Series

Nov 15, 2022

ST. PAUL, Minn., Nov. 15, 2022 –Performance Today (PT), from YourClassical and distributed by American Public Media, has announced five young musicians who have been identified for the 2022-2023 Performance Today Young Artists in Residence Program (PTYA).

Performance Today is the most popular, award-winning classical music radio program in the country. PT works with the best conservatories from around the country to identify their top talent to take part in the PTYA Program each year.

Each Young Artist will have performances and interviews with host Fred Child recorded for broadcast and will participate in outreach to elementary and middle-school students. 

This year’s Young Artists include:

·         Jory Lane, violin, Eastman School

Lane is a violinist and multi-instrumentalist from Colorado Springs, CO. He has won numerous competitions and awards, including fourth prize in the Walnut Valley Festival National Mandolin Championship. Lane has toured internationally as concertmaster for a number of orchestras, including tours to Japan, Germany, Prague, Australia, and New Zealand. Most recently, Lane performed in the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, CO under Michael Stern and Teddy Abrams. Lane is Performer’s Certificate candidate studying with Renée Jolles at the Eastman School of Music.

·         Leland Ko, cello, New England Conservatory

Ko is a cellist from Boston, MA and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the US and internationally in Italy, Sweden, Israel and Spain. Most recently, Ko won first prize at the 2021 Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, second prize at the inaugural 2020 Bader and Overton Canadian Cello Competition and appeared as a finalist in the 2020 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 2022, he will perform with the Adelphi Orchestra in New York, and with the NEC Philharmonia in Boston. Ko has played for a number of orchestras in the last decade including the Arlington Philharmonic and Symphony Pro Musica. He is currently an Artist Diploma candidate at the New England Conservatory.  

·         Salvador Flores, saxophone, University of Michigan

Flores is a saxophonist from Houston, TX. He has performed as a soloist and with his quartet around the United States, Switzerland, Belgium and Mexico. Flores has won many awards in his career, including most recently being named the second saxophonist to ever receive the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance's Albert A. Stanley Medal. Flores currently serves as the Soprano Chair of the Aero Quartet, which advocates for new music and artist collaboration. He also performs in the Regional Mexican style, spending his summers on the road playing across the US. Flores is currently pursuing both an M.M. in Saxophone Performance and an M.M. in Improvisation at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. He will be joining the saxophone section of the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” beginning in 2023.

·         Talin Nalbandian, soprano, Butler School of Music, UT Austin

Nalbandian is a mezzo- soprano from Los Angeles, CA. She has performed with numerous opera houses, including Virginia Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Sarsota Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera. Most recently, she joined Chautauqua Opera to sing Mother in Kamala Sankaram’s Thumbprint as well as Anne in The Mother of us All, and she was a finalist in the Butler Opera International Voice Competition. Nalbandian is a first prize winner of the Henry and Maria Holt Vocal Competition and the Burbank Philharmonic Kennings-Fischer Competition, as well as a district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has also received awards from the Butler Opera International Competition and the Mentoris Project Vocal Competition. Nalbandian currently attends the University of Texas, Austin where she is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

·         Vijay Venkatesh, piano, Colburn School of Music

Venkatesh, a pianist originally from California, has been recognized on three continents for his “dazzling pianism”. He has won top prizes in multiple international piano competitions and has been named both a Davidson Fellow Laureate at the Library of Congress and USC Thorton’s Discovery Scholar. As a soloist, Venkatesh has performed across the United States and Europe with such symphony orchestras as the Seattle Symphony and the Sarosota Orchestra. He is also a member of the Aristeia Trio and performs as one-half of the Vieness Piano Duo with his wife pianist Eva Schaumkell. Venkatesh is originally from California and is an Artist Diploma candidate at the Colburn School in Los Angeles with Fabio Bidini.

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About YourClassical
YourClassical® is a collection of curated classical music listening experiences and information produced by Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media Group. YourClassical provides audiences with the music they love through terrestrial broadcasts and multiple web-based platforms. Nationally syndicated YourClassical programs include Pipedreams®, SymphonyCast®, Composers Datebook® and Performance Today®, and are in addition to the Radio, Lullaby, Relax, Peaceful Piano, and Holiday audio streams that can be found at YourClassical.org. Regional music programming produced by YourClassical MPR®, is a trusted companion for listeners across Minnesota on broadcast radio, web interfaces and live events. YourClassical MPR’s Kid’s Initiatives strives to inspire the next generation of music fans and artists through in-school learning experiences, educational content, and resources for teachers and parents. Each week, nearly 2.75 million people engage with YourClassical. Learn more and listen at yourclassical.org. 

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