The "Back to BACH" Project
Students for the Arts!
Roger Xia
Member Since February 2020
Roger Xia, 17, a senior at Davis Senior High School (DSHS), is also a San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) pre-college scholarship student. He started piano studies with Linda Beaulieu at age 5 and continues with Natsuki Fukasawa and Richard Cionco. He also started violin studies with Dong Ho at age 7 and continues with William Barbini. Roger is a founding member of the Locke Quartet coached by Aenea Keyes at SFCM pre-college. Being a National Young Arts Foundation merit award winner (2018) and honorable mention winner (2020), he has appeared as a soloist with orchestras since age 8, made his Carnegie Hall debuts at age 10, won top prizes including the Mondavi Young Artist Competition (2015), and was featured on the From the Top show 322 (2016). Roger has also participated in the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) Summer Music Program (2017), Interharmony Music Festival (2018), and joined the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA 2019). He won San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) Concerto Competition and played as piano soloist with the orchestra (2019). Roger has been the concertmaster of SFSYO (2017-2020) and the Europe Summer Performance Tour (2019). He is also the concertmaster of DSHS Symphony Orchestra (2017-2020) and played as violin soloist at Carnegie Hall (2018). Aside from music, Roger enjoys science, skiing, Kung-Fu, as well as playing tennis, Ping Pong, and soccer.
Jessica Li
Member Since February 2020
Jessica Li, 17, is a senior at Davis Senior High School. She has been playing the cello for 9 years under Susan Lamb Cook and plans to continue into college as a cello performance major. She is proud to have used her music to perform three benefit concerts to raise over $4,200 for children in Uganda. Jessica has won many awards and prizes such as the MTAC VOCE Alameda County in solo and chamber, CAPMT Go For The Gold Music Competition, and ASTA Sacramento Section Solo Concerto Competition. For fun, Jessica enjoys spending time with her dog and sister, learning fun new pieces of music on the cello, piano, or ukulele, and hanging out with friends.
Kaoruko Hayashi
Member Since May 2020
Kaoruko Hayashi is a sophomore at Davis Senior High School. She started playing the piano at age 5 with Helen Twiss and currently studies with Akiko Gaffney. She also started violin studies with Heather Powell at age 8 and is currently under the instruction of Zaven Melikian. Kaoruko won the first place in the 2018 Steinway Junior Piano Competition and received prizes at CAPMT State Honors and ENKOR competitions. In 2019, she attended the John Perry Academy International Piano Festival and the Kirishima International Music Festival, studying under Cyprien Katsaris. She was the soloist with Sacramento Youth Symphony Premier Orchestra in 2018 and won the Scholarship Award at the 2020 Auburn Symphony Young Artists Concerto Competition. She studies chamber music with Richard Cionco and Susan Lamb Cook. Her piano duo earned prizes including the Best Outstanding Gold Medalist Award at the 2020 US Open Music Competition. Her piano trios/quartet earned the first prizes at VOCE regional competitions. Kaoruko is currently the concertmaster of the DHS Baroque Ensemble. She played in Sacramento Youth Symphony and the CODA State Honors Symphony Orchestras. She performs at regional fundraising events with her school string quartets coached by Angelo Moreno. Other than music, she enjoys playing badminton and soccer, making sweets, and spending time with family and friends. Kaoruko joined the "Back to BACH" project in 2020.