A special In-Home Concert on Sunday May 25, will feature Anna Han, Junior Division first place winner of this year’s Fountain Hills Piano Competition, and Carolynn Cong, 2007 Junior Division finalist in the 2007 competition.
Both pianists are students of Mr. Fei Xu at the New Century Conservatory in Chandler.
The concert will be at 4 p.m. at the home of Jerry and Jackie Miles. Tickets are $15, with all proceeds going to help fund the 2009 Piano Competition.
Han, who began piano lessons at age 5, is a seventh grader in the gifted program at Santan Junior High in Chandler.
She was the national first place winner of the 2007 MTNA Baldwin Junior Piano Competition, first place winner of the 2007 Arizona Youth Piano Competition, and the 2007 winner of the Winners’ Showcase in the Arizona Young Artist Schimmel Piano Competition.
She recently performed Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Chandler Symphony Orchestra. Han also enjoys reading, dance, and outdoor activities.
Cong, who began studying piano at age 4, attends the Arizona School for the Arts. She has won numerous awards for piano competitions in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Arizona.
She was the first place winner in the 2008 Arizona Young Artist Schimmel Piano Competition, and a National Finalist in the 2008 MTNA Junior Baldwin Piano Competition. Cong’s hobbies are swimming and playing tennis.
This year’s Fountain Hills Piano Competition, co-sponsored by Steinway of Phoenix, awarded a total of $5,000 to the six finalists.
Next year’s final round will held be on Sunday, March 8, at 3 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church.
Anyone wanting to sponsor a cash prize should contact Alice Brovan, chair of the event, by calling (480) 816-1243.
The Piano Competition is produced by a committee of the Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association.
Tickets can be obtained by calling Jean Linzer at (480) 837-0762, or Carol Coates at (480) 837-1063. Young piano students are encouraged to attend with their parents. Refreshments will be served.
North Valley Playhouse
Place: North Valley Playhouse, 13043 N. Cave Creek Rd., Phoenix, in the Pollack Tower Center.
Production: La Cage Aux Folles by Jerry Herman, directed by Jeana Whitaker.
Plot: Albin and Georges are popular female impersonators starring in the drag queen show, Les Cagelles. Problems arise when Georges’ 25-year-old son, Jean-Michel, a result from a brief encounter years back, announces that he is engaged to Anne Dindon, the daughter of a well-known politician, Edouard Dindon.
Anne’s parents want to come and meet Jean-Michel’s mother and father.
Little do they know that Albin, a man, has essentially been Jean-Michel’s mother figure his whole life.
Particulars: Plays May 15 – June 7. Performances are Thursdays – Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for evening performances and $15 for matinees.
Call the box office at (602) 765-1581 or visit ww.nvplayhouse.com.
Fountain Hills Community Theater
Place: Fountain Hills Community Theater, 11445 N. Saguaro Blvd.
Production: Miss Saigon by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr.
Plot: Miss Saigon is a modern musical adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The setting of the plot is relocated to 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, and Madame Butterfly’s American Lieutenant and Japanese geisha coupling is replaced by a romance between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl.
Players: The musical stars Jesse Berger, Mark Burkett, Michelle Chin, Ricky Duarte, Jasmin Feliciano, Nick Feliciano, Brian Elam, Darren Scott Friedman, May Gibbs, Dawn LeSueur, Luo Ma, Ben Medina, Angelie Meehan, Ukiah Odom, Andrea Robertson, Douglas Simmons, Michael Stewart, Ronald Tang, and Kayte Zhang.
Particulars: The show plays through May 2 - 25. Shows are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults and $15 for kids younger than 12. To order, call (480) 837-9661.
Broadway Palm
Place: Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, 5247 E. Brown Road, in Mesa. The theater is accessible from the Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway) or the US 60 (Superstition Freeway) via the Higley Road exits.
Production: The Buddy Holly story
Plot: Charting the meteoric rise and career of the legendary singer songwriter, this sensational rock musical features over 20 of Holly’s greatest hits.
Players: The show stars Todd Meredith as the rock icon.
Particulars: Performances run through June 7. Show times are Wednesday through Saturday with dinner at 6 p.m., and show at 8p.m.; Wednesday or Thursday and Saturday or Sunday matinees with lunch buffet at 11:45 a.m. and show at 1:15 p.m. Sunday Twilights: Dinner begins at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Adult ticket prices range from $45 to $54. Tickets for children 12 and under are $22. Show-only seats are available for $25. Purchase tickets online at broadwaypalmwest.com or by calling the Box Office at (480) 325-6700.
Note: On select Saturday evenings the cast presents an intimate concert of rock ‘n’ roll. Admission is free and all ages are welcome to attend. Concerts begin 20 minutes after the show on April 26, May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 and June 7.