Salida Aspen Concerts Presents

The cherished summer tradition, presented in partnership with the Aspen Music Festival and School, brings world-class musicians to Salida for six Saturday evening performances running weekly from July 11 through Aug. 15. Salida Aspen Concerts is delighted to present three exceptionally talented young pianists as a "Piano Palooza" in the third concert of its 50th Anniversary Summer Concert Series season on Saturday, July 25th, at the Salida High School Auditorium. 15-year-old pianist, Bo-Wei Andrew Huang, will be performing Chopin's Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1, and the first 12 of Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28. Piano works by Brahms (Fantasien, Op. 116, Nos. 1 and 5-7) and by late 19th/early 20th century Catalan composer Enrique Granados (Goyescas, o Los majos enamorados, Op. 11, Nos. 1 and 4) will be played by 15-year-old pianist-composer, Taige Wang. Linz Sicheng Guo, 20, will close the evening with "scènes mignonnes sur quatre notes" from Carnaval, Op. 9, and Three Movements from Stravinsky's Petrushka. Huang, from Taiwan, and Wang, from Irvine, California, are both studying piano at the Juilliard School with Professor Yoheved Kaplinsky. Huang has twice won the Taiwan National Students' Music Competition, as well First Prize at the Steinway South-East Asia Pacific Regional Finals, and has performed with the QingXing Ensemble. Wang is a Lang Lang Foundation scholar and the 2026 YoungArts Winner with Distinction, a prize winner at the Rosalyn Rueck International Bach and Thomas and Evon Cooper Competition, and a Cliburn Junior quarter finalist. He is also a prize-winning composer and has performed at Carnegie Hall, American's National Opera Center, and the Lincoln Center, where he premiered some of his commissioned works. Guo is from Songyuan, China, and has been playing piano since the age of eight. At 14 he performed Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, which Prokofiev himself described as "devilishly difficult." He has performed around the world (China, South Korea, Japan, UK, Spain), was awarded First Prize and the Best Outstanding Talent award in the Piano Group of the Second Toronto International Instrumental Music Competition, and placed second at the Chicago International Piano Competition and at the Lang Lang Futian International Piano Competition. He is the recipient of the Yamaha Scholarship, and is currently studying with Professor Huang Ruoyu at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Salida Aspen Concerts, Inc., is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and its Summer Concert Series is a collaboration with the renowned Aspen Music School and Festival. For more information go to www.salidaaspenconcerts.org Doors open at 5:45 p.m. for a pre-concert talk with the musicians at 6:15 p.m., and performances will begin at 7 p.m. This concert is generously sponsored by High Country Bank, for which Salida Aspen Concerts is most grateful. Upcoming Performances: Aug. 1: Hao Yang – classical guitar. Yang is a student of and the teaching assistant for Sharon Ibsin, Aspen’s head of guitar. Ibsin began the classical guitar program at Juilliard and spends her summers at Aspen. She sends her top guitarists to Salida. Yang is from China and has performed in many major venues including Carnegie Hall and last year in Salida. Aug. 8: Steven Spooner, a new faculty member at Aspen Music Festival and School. Spooner’s uniquely compelling performances have been hailed worldwide. He has released more than 45 recordings, including a monumental 10-volume Liszt survey. At times he daringly reinvents the solo recital, allowing audiences to vote on the spot for one of five programs he has prepared. Aug. 15: Edgar Meyer, double bass, and Amy Yang, piano. Meyer’s styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass and jazz. He has won seven Grammy Awards and been nominated 10 times. Visiting professor of double bass at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he has performed with many other musicians and in a great variety of venues. Yang has played in most major music venues from Carnegie Hall to Salida. She is an alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music. Concerts are held at the Salida High School auditorium. Regular admission is $30 per concert, with free admission for all K–12 students. An adult accompanying a K–12 student receives half-price admission. Tickets are available at the door and online through SalidaAspenConcerts.org.