The CSUN Music Department is thankful for generous donations of support from the following individuals and foundations.
Planned Gifts
Linda S. Anderson
Sandra J. Bostrom Aguado and Donald E. Bostrom
Nancy Fierro
Deanna M. Gorman (dec.)
Sherry Lapides
Shigemi E. Matsumoto and Martin Stark
Carson E. Schreiber
Richard J. Wiegand (dec.)
$25k+
The Herb Alpert Foundation
The Colburn Foundation
Nancy Fierro
Michael Gintz
Sherry Lapides
Shigemi E. Matsumoto and Martin Stark
$10k-$24,999
Rising Star Music Fund
Kurt Weill Foundation for Music
The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation
Rosa Maria Belli
Synne Hansen Miller
David (dec.) and Gita Kronen
Joan Thompson
$5k-$9,999
Marilyn N. Hankins
$1k-$4,999
Linda Anderson
Aurelio De la Vega (dec.)
The Benny Golbin Foundation
Joe Goodman
Eden Miller
Michael Ryan and Kenneth Howard
Michael Sandler
David W. and Judith G. Scott Revocable Trust
Peter Rotter
$500-$999
Jonathan Braun
Jane Brockman
Brian Driscoll
Joseph Gardner
Diane Ketchie-Saar and Raymond Saar
Michael McClish
Les Hershberger
California State University, Northridge
Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication Department of Music presents
CSUN Symphony Orchestra
John Roscigno, Conductor
Melanie Ooi, Violin
Rachel Mellman, Soprano
Emesh Wijewardena, Tenor
May 10, 2023 7:30 p.m. Plaza del Sol, CSUN
Main Theme from “Angela’s Ashes”..............................John Williams (1932 - )
Holland Transport from “Another Sunrise”………………Jack Heggie (1961- )
Rachel Mellman, Soprano
No Puedo Ser from “La Tabernera del Puerto”………Pablo Sorozabal (1897-1988)
Emesh Wijewardena, Tenor
Violin Concerto…………………………………….Aram Kachaturian (1903-1978)
I. Allegro
Melanie Ooi, Violin Intermission
Symphony No. 1 “Gaelic”………………………………..Amy Beach (1867-1944)
I. Allegro con fuoco
II. Alla Sicliliana / Allegro Vivace
III. Lento con molto espessione
IV. Allegro di molto
Soloists
Rachel Mellman is a soprano originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. Rachel’s love of performing began in community theatre as a child and continued in school productions through high school and college. While attending the University of Washington in Seattle, she developed an affection for classical music thanks to her voice teacher. After graduating in 2021 with a BA in Drama Performance and a BS in Astronomy, Rachel took a gap year to focus on music training before pursuing her Master’s. Rachel is currently finishing her first year at CSUN and studies with Dr. Hugo Vera. She would like to thank her family, friends, and mentors for their support of her operatic ambitions
Emesh Wijewardena, is an Operatic Tenor from Sri Lanka. He is currently pursuing his Master of Music in Vocal Performance at California State University, Northridge and a student of Professor Diane Ketchie-Saar. With his Bachelor’s degree from the University of London, UK, Emesh was ambitious to pursue his passion in opera and he had performed his first operatic debut role in Sicily at the Meditarranean Opera Festival in 2018, playing the lead role of Nemorino in the opera L'elisir D'amore by G. Donizetti and continuing his vocal studies under the famous Italian Tenor, Salvatore Fisichella. He recently won the CSUN Concerto/Aria competition and Emesh also played the lead role of 'Rodolfo' in the opera La Bohème at CSUN this March.
A native of Selangor, Malaysia, Melanie Ooi first started learning the violin at the age of 5 and later picked up the cello and viola at the ages of 11 and 18 respectively. She has since performed with various orchestras and string ensembles in her home country, including the Selangor Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia KL. Melanie has also won several prizes in the Euroasia Strings Competition, National Tainan Music Competition (Taiwan), and of recent, is a winner of the 2023 CSUN Concerto Competition and the 2023 Music Scholarship Competition by the Sigma Alpha Iota Pasadena Alumnae Chapter Melanie has performed in the Make-A-Wish Ball Malaysia 2018 and the SPCA fund raising concert (A Concert for Kindness) 2019. Melanie is currently in her final year as an undergraduate at CSUN under the tutelage of Lorenz Gamma. She received the 2021-2022 Dean’s Award for Most Outstanding Junior, the award for Most Outstanding Student in Strings, and the Bayramian Foundation scholarship. Melanie is this first violinists with the CSUN Honors String Quartet, under the guidance of Professor Diane Roscetti. She has performed in the 2022 edition of ChamberFest at CSUN and participated in masterclasses conducted by Martin Chalifour, Bernadine Blaha, Niv Ashkenazi, Genevieve Lee, Wendy Richman, Aperture Duo, Sitkovetsky Trio, Lindsay Deutsch, and Pamela Frank.
CSUN Symphony Orchestra
Violin I Cello Horn
Nelly Guevara Alec Glass Hayden Amendola
Daniel Herrnstein Betsy Liu Michele Cheaure
Esteban Andrade Thomas Lovasz+ Daniel Gallardo
Alizah Chao Isabella Argueta Nicholas Aguilla
Abtin Farrokh Benz Marston+
Melanie Ooi Trumpet
Sahand Zare Bass Carlos Gonzalea-Samaniego
Cansu Ozyurek Jonathan Hoe Andrew Rodman+
Jasminie Forooghi Aidan Neuman Christa Guerrero
Zachary Pickens
Violin II. Trombone
Scott Johnson Flute and Piccolo Jonathan Osterloh
Garrett Wang Marcos Ramirez Matteo Rivera
Saul Romero Eliana Perez Riley Baker
Hannah Cruz Heavyn Rivera
Shant Mkrtchyan Tuba
Rachel Greenup Oboe Collin Landry
Min-Shen Chiou Jason Kennedy+
Yunking Son Noah Breneman+ (+EH) Timpani/Percussion
Evan Frangesh
Viola Clarinet Lucas Heinenger
Zachary Cruz Nancy Chrisostomo John Estrada
Nic Lampert Sonny Keeley
Luigi Ito Joshua Alonso (+bass) Piano / Celesta
Patrick Marsh+ Helen Wu+
Karen Paz Bassoon Alyssa French
Doris Xiao+ Matthew Bevens
Rebekah Ramano Avery Stafford
Librarian
Alec Glass