All Classical Radio | On Deck with Young Musicians

Amy Faust covers a lot of musical territory with 16 year-old clarinetist Joseph Baik, who will be performing a solo piece at Carnegie Hall this fall.While he loves classical and contemporary music, he is also a passionate fan of hip hop, fashion, and swimming, which he does competitively. This combination keeps him so busy that he says he can literally fall asleep anywhere. Joseph's parents both come from very musical families in Korea, and he's grateful for the way they encourage him but allow him to make his own decisions.

Klara Kjome Fischer, 18, is a recent graduate of the IB program at Cleveland High School and a violinist with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. In this episode of On Deck, Klara speaks with Raúl Gómez-Rojas about her experience learning, rehearsing and performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 with MYS. In the fall, Klara plans to attend Carleton College, where she will not major in music, but hopes to continue playing in chamber and orchestral ensembles. In Portland, Klara is a violin student of Endrew Ehrlich, and enjoys biking, hiking and climbing trees.

In this episode of On Deck, 16-year-old violinist Derek Choi chats with Raúl Gómez-Rojas about his beginnings in music, playing piano and classical guitar before he ever picked up a violin. Starting a couple of years ago, a shift in his approach to competitions enabled him to start cultivating prizes more consistently: In the spring of 2022, Derek was a winner of the MetroArts Young Artists Debut and the Oregon Mozart Players Young Soloist Competition Senior Division, soloing with their orchestra under the direction of Kelly Kuo. In 2021, he was the First Prize winner of the Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition as well as the American Protégé Music Talent Competition where he was awarded a performance at Carnegie Hall in 2023. At home, Derek plays with the Portland Youth Philharmonic and teaches with Project Prelude, a student-led program that brings music lessons to elementary school students in Beaverton.

Amy Faust gets to know Koharu Sakiyama, a composer whose piece “Untold Tales,” a collaboration with local young poet Laila Vickers, just premiered at the Metropolitan Youth Symphony‘s spring concert. Koharu, who also plays violin with the Portland Youth Philharmonic, alto sax with her high school band, as well as the Japanese koto, has won or been recognized by numerous composers’ competitions. Her work has been performed by PYP, her high school band, and other ensembles around the city. This latest piece comes to us through her work with fEARnoMUSIC’s Young Composer’s Project. Aside from her koto playing, Koharu’s Japanese roots are reflected in a recent composition she created for her grandfather called “Maturi” that was inspired by the many festivals she attended with him in Japan. Koharu heads to University of California at Berkley this fall where she plans to study cellular and molecular biology.

In this episode of “On Deck,” Margot chats with Raúl Gómez-Rojas about her artistic journey, as well as her leadership roles in her school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance and the program “No Place for Hate,” which seeks to combat discrimination in schools through peer-based education.

15-year old high school sophomore Lorelei Gorton loves the term ‘artist’ because of its range, and that’s exactly how she describes herself. She’s primarily a dancer and musician, but she also has a passion for writing, singing, acting, and visual art. That’s why she loves being able to go to the Arts & Communication Magnet Academy in Beaverton. In this episode of “On Deck” Lorelei tells Christa Wessel that she believes the arts provide an amazing means of catharsis and a place where she can transform her interior emotions into something externally powerful.

Adam Eccleston shares a heart-to-heart moment with flutist and All Classical Portland Young Artist Ambassador, Diego Fernandez. This joyous junior of South Salem High School has already contributed much to our greater Portland community. Diego is a well-rounded musician supporting works of modern living composers of diverse background. He has aspirations to become a leading professional flutist in order to inspire others like him.

Adam Eccleston shares a heart-to-heart moment with flutist and All Classical Portland Young Artist Ambassador, Diego Fernandez. This joyous junior of South Salem High School has already contributed much to our greater Portland community. Diego is a well-rounded musician supporting works of modern living composers of diverse background. He has aspirations to become a leading professional flutist in order to inspire others like him.

Amy Faust chats with Joey Young, a senior at Mountain View High School in Vancouver. After picking up a viola for his school music program in the 5th grade, Joey's love of classical music led to an interest in composing, which he has been doing now for several years.

Christa Wessel chats with Paul Zupan. A sophomore at Franklin High School, Paul loves nothing more than being with friends in band (Paul plays saxophone) and in the Pacific Youth Choir (Paul sings bass). Paul has been making music since 5th grade, but says it has only gotten more difficult the older they get. When Paul is not making music, which is most of the time, they enjoy computer coding.