Sands, Schubert, and Star Wars
Saturday, March 29, 2025, 7:30 pm
Mozart Piano Concerto in D minor, K. 466, 1st mvt, with Lucas Popescu, piano
Taylor Shifting Sands for English Horn and Orchestra *world premiere*, with
Maureen Stone, English horn
Schubert Symphony No. 8, "Unfinished"
Williams Star Wars Suite
Purchase tickets online (with service fee)
or at the door (cash, check, PayPal)
$15 General, $10 Senior/Student
Kids age 12 and under FREE
12-year-old piano prodigy, Lucas Popescu, is a 6th grade student at Northshore Christian Academy in Everett. Lucas has won top prizes in several important piano competitions, including Gold Medal at the 2025 Chopin Northwest Competition, Grand Prize at the 2024 Pacific Northwest Piano Competition, Grand Prize at the 2024 International French Music Piano Competition, Gold Medal at the 2024 Music Era Festival, Silver Medal at the 2024 Russian Chamber Music Foundation Competition, Silver Medal at the 2024 Virtuoso Artists Festival, and Bronze Medal at the 2024 Chopin Northwest Competition. Adjudicators have described Lucas as "a very accomplished pianist with beautiful singing fingers," "exceptional talent," and as a "poetic pianist with pure heart and soul."
Lucas enjoys mathematics and science, skiing, competitive swimming, international traveling, and chess. He is thrilled to perform the first movement of Mozart’s iconic D minor Piano Concerto with Maestro Alexei Girsh in his Eastside Symphony debut.
With Eastside Symphony, Maureen has performed as the English Horn soloist on Copland’s Quiet City, Sibelius’ Swan of Tuanella, and A Woodland Sketch, by local composer Stafford Miller. She is delighted to be performing the world premiere of Shifting Sands, by Eastside Symphony’s own composer-in-residence, Jeffrey Taylor.
Maureen Stone has played oboe ever since her junior high band director convinced her it would be more fun than flute or clarinet. She had her first opportunity to play the English horn in a youth symphony performance of Hovhaness’ Mysterious Mountain. Since then, she has played both oboe and English horn as frequently as possible with community orchestras, choirs, theater groups and with friends. She is a longtime member of the Eastside Symphony oboe section and also serves on the board. She is also a regular member of the Cascade Symphony, primarily as its English horn player. She is currently studying with Selena Gresco.