WILLMAR – The Willmar Area Symphonic Orchestra presents its concert of young artists at 7 p.m. Saturday at WEAC in Willmar.

The concert features the winners of the Young Orchestra Artist Competition, Ellie Hu, violin and Jeremy Pierskalla, voice.

Jeremy Pierskalla is in his final year at Willmar High School. He will sing Handel’s “Ombra mai fu” by Xerxes. He is the son of Mark and Diane Pierskalla of Willmar.

He studied voice with Cheryl Schmidt and played the cello and French horn in the orchestral and marching band programs at Willmar High School. He received consistent top marks in the Minnesota State High School League Section 8AA Solo and Ensemble Competitions for Group, Choir, and Orchestra. He attended the All-State Choir as a baritone in the 2018-2019 TTBB Choir.

This is his fourth season as a cellist with the Willmar Area Symphonic Orchestra. He will be attending Ridgewater College next year and plans to move to a four-year school when he finishes at Ridgewater.

Ellie Hu is 16 years old and an exchange student from Taipei, Taiwan. She will play the first movement of Bruch’s “Violin Concerto No. 1”. Hu lived with Heidi Redepenning and Joey Marquardt in Atwater and attended ACGC High School.

She is the daughter of CT Hu and Sharon Hsieh from Taiwan. She started playing the violin at the age of 6 and joined her school orchestra at the age of 8.

Her immediate goal upon returning to Taiwan is to complete high school. She’s not sure exactly what her plans are after this, but she does know that she “enjoys listening to all kinds of music, especially jazz and classical”.

The orchestra will open the program with “The Overture of the Light Cavalry” by Franz V. Suppe. It was written as part of a two-act operetta in 1866. The operetta is rarely performed, but the Overture has taken on a life of its own. It is often played by groups and orchestras and has been used in movies and cartoons.

Closing the program, the orchestra will play Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5”. It was written between 1804 and 1808 and is one of the best-known compositions in classical music. The famous four-note motif used at the start of Beethoven’s Fifth had enormous appeal outside the world of classical music.

Concert tickets are available in advance at Whitney Music in North Willmar, online at www.willmarorchestra.com or at the door. Adult tickets are $ 10, ages 5-18 are $ 5, kids under 5 are admitted free, and a family package of two unlimited adults and children costs $ 25.