The "Back to BACH" Project
Students for the Arts!
Nathan Wu
Member Since January 2018
Nathan Wu, 15, started playing the violin at age nine and is currently studying with Kathleen Kono. He has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Barre Opera House, Chandler Center for the Performing Arts, and others. He has participated in numerous music festivals, such as the Walnut Hill Music Festival and the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. In the summer of 2015, he attended Kinhaven Music School. Nathan has also been selected for many honors performances and concerts, such as “The Next Generation” concert at Chandler Center for the Performing Arts, and the Middle School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall. Nathan is currently a member of the Vermont Youth Orchestra, and was selected as its youngest member in 2015. Furthermore, Nathan greatly enjoys giving back to his community through music, too. He has performed for senior homes, schools and at his local library, giving many people a rare opportunity to listen to live, classical music, which can be difficult to find in today’s world.
Henry Wu
Member Since Fall 2017
Henry Wu, a senior at Essex High School in Essex Junction, Vermont, has played the cello since age 8 and studies with Emily Taubl. He is the principal cellist of the Vermont Youth Orchestra and will solo with them in May 2020. He has been a member of New England and All-State festival orchestras and an All-State performance scholarship prizewinner. Additionally, he has attended several summer music festivals, including the Music Festival at Walnut Hill. Henry was also a member of SoundCheck, a social justice band of Vermont high schoolers. He has played in the pit orchestra and written original music for school theater productions. Henry has also studied the piano since age 5, currently with Paul Orgel. He was the winner of the 2016 MTNA state piano competition and an All-State competition prizewinner from 2017 to 2019. He soloed with the Vermont Philharmonic in 2019 as the winner of the Borowicz Memorial Scholarship. As an active advocate for music education and outreach, Henry was the music director for his local middle school’s musical in 2019. He co-founded Classical Music Encounters, a library concert series that introduces classical music to new audiences. Henry is also the president of the Essex High School Tri-M Music Honor Society and a 2018 State Presidential Scholar in the Arts.
Zani Lewis
Member Since Fall 2018
Zani Lewis is a sophomore at Burlington High School and has been playing the cello for more than twelve years. He has been part of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association for ten years; is in his fourth year of intensive music studies at Mannes Prep in NYC on Saturdays; and played with a chamber group for four years and an Advanced Performance String Ensemble for three years at the Upper Valley Music Center in Lebanon, NH, on Wednesdays. During the summers when he’s not away at music camp, he can be found busking on Church Street. He’s been fortunate to have amazing teachers and wonderful support from classical music enthusiasts. He loves everything having to do with music, especially performing, and enjoys composing in his spare time. In November 2017, Zani won the Vermont Philharmonic Jon Borowicz Student Scholarship and played Bruch’s Kol Nidrei as a soloist with the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra in February 2018.
Elizabeth Messier
Member Since Fall 2018
Elizabeth Messier is a violist in the Vermont Youth Orchestra. She resides in Essex Junction, Vermont with her family, and attends Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School as an 8th grade student in 2017-18. Elizabeth served as one of the student leader facilitators in the newly-formed Essex Westford School District alongside the leadership of the school district to discuss and eventually formulate a vision for schools in the newly combined district. Elizabeth began studying viola in February, 2012 with Elizabeth Reid and during summers with Kathleen Kono. Since September 2017, Elizabeth has been studying with Ana Ruesink. Elizabeth has been part of the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association since fall 2012, spending two years in Vermont Youth Strings and two years in the Vermont Youth Philharmonia. She also has been playing piano since June, 2011. In her spare time, Elizabeth likes to do crafts, babysit, play games, and spend time with friends. She has also recently been awarded the Linda and Leon Gregorian Scholarship for viola. Elizabeth plans on attending the New England Music Camp this summer (2018) and is excited to experience high school in the fall!
Justin Lee
Member Since December 2018
Justin Lee is 14 years old and is currently a freshman who at Essex High School. His interest in music started with the piano when he was 5, and then with the violin when he was 6 years old. He is currently studying under Letitia Quante. Justin has won several music competitions, such as first place in the Music Legacy Open Competition in 2016 as well as first place in the Korean American Music Supporters Association (KAMSA) in 2017. He has also received second and third places in the Korea Times Youth Music Competition in 2014, 2015, and 2017 and has received runner-ups in the US Open Music Competition in 2016 and 2017. He had the opportunity to participate in a masterclass with Ning Feng in 2016. Justin was concertmaster for the California Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in the 2017-2018 season and soloed with them in December 2017. He represented Vermont in the 2018 MTNA Junior Strings Competition. He was also accepted to NEMFA in 2018. He is currently a first violinist in the Vermont Youth Orchestra. He is also one of the founders of Clio, an organization which performs music at senior homes monthly.
Celilo Bauman Swain
Member Since February 2019
Music has always played an essential role in 16-year-old Celilo Bauman-Swain’s Life. Undiagnosed with a hearing loss at age 4, Celilo started playing the cello under Anne Browne, although unable to hear as well as her peers, Celilo progressed as fast as any other student, eventually switching studios to John Dunlop at age 11. Throughout the summers, Celilo has attended many summer programs, as a 5th Grader, she got into Kinhaven Junior Summer School where she attended for 3 years before getting into the prestigious Manhatten in the Mountains program where she has worked with Marion Feldman and Julian Longford for the past 2 summers. In 2019, Celilo won a spot at the Cincinatti Cello Institute, where she worked under Natasha Brofsky and Alan Rafferty. Celilo has additionally worked with Vermont Youth Orchestra for the past 9 years and last winter earned principal seat at the New England Music Festival as a 9th grader. Celilo has had a life-long passion for chamber music and enjoys playing duets with her sister.
Rowan Bauman Swain
Member Since February 2019
Rowan Bauman-Swain is an 18-year-old violist from Charlotte, VT. She made her concerto debut with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in 2015, and has been a student at the Juilliard School, Pre-College Division since 2013. Rowan began studying violin at age 4 with Kathy Post and viola at 11 with Stefanie Taylor, and has attended the Perlman Music Program Summer Music School since 2016, as well as participating in residencies in Sarasota, Florida and Tel Aviv, Israel. There she has had the privilege to learn from faculty including Maestro Perlman and members of the Cavani and Juilliard string quartets. Rowan participated the Music@Menlo Young Performer’s Program in 2015; as a member of the Felix Quartet, she has performed in various venues throughout New York City and was a semifinalist in the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Rowan is a student of Ms. Carol Rodland and a senior at Champlain Valley Union High School.
Esther Koo
Member Since Winter 2019
Esther Koo, 16, studies with Ira Morris and started playing the violin at age 10. For 5 years, she has been the violinist of the Hallelujah Praise Trio. They have been invited to perform at churches across the eastern U.S. Her weekly solo and duet performances are broadcasted on Northwest Access TV and Lake Champlain Television and are available for viewing on YouTube and Facebook. Upon winning 1st at several Kiwanis music competitions after learning violin for less than a year, newspapers across the state of North Carolina noticed and interviewed her about her love for music. For the past two years, she has also been a member of the Georgia UMC Handbell Choir, which performs every season. She was awarded a scholarship in the summer of 2014 to attend the Summer Chamber Music Institute at East Carolina University as a first violinist in her quartet. One passion of hers since the start of high school is frequently performing in her community, particularly in senior homes, veteran’s homes, and weddings. She is a member of the Vermont Youth Orchestra and plans to be a part until she graduates South Burlington High.