About the performers:
Delia Zaleski:
Delia Zaleski will be attending Carnegie Mellon University this fall to study flute performance with Lorna McGhee of the Pittsburgh Symphony. She was recognized as a National YoungArts Honorable Mention winner for 2020, and she is a finalist for the National Flute Association’s High School Soloist Competition for 2020. During her time at Interlochen, she has played in many student recitals, the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, chamber ensembles, and Interlochen’s first ever contemporary music ensemble. This year she was principal flute in the ballet, The Nutcracker, and in December 2018 she was also principal flute for the school’s production of Swan Lake. This past March, she was principal flute in the Academy Orchestra’s tour of Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony to the New World Center. During the fall semester, she participated in masterclasses with Lady Jeanne Galway and Sir James Galway, and she performed the world premiere of Dr. Thomas Child’s Triune: Three from One with Nancy Stagnitta’s studio flute choir and trio performed by Sir James Galway, Lady Jeanne Galway, and Nancy Stagnitta. In summer 2019, she worked as an intern for Flutistry Boston.
Alex Chai:
Alec Chai is a 20-year-old oboist from Colorado Springs, CO. Opting to pursue his
academic studies in addition to music, he is currently majoring in chemistry at Yale
University while playing with the Yale Symphony Orchestra, Yale Undergraduate Piano
Collective, and engaging in Yale’s broader music scene. As the youngest of three
brothers and the second oboist in his family, he was introduced to the oboe’s distinctive
sound at a very young age. As the winner of Yale’s concerto competition his freshman year, Alec had theopportunity to perform Bohuslav Martinů’s “Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra”
with the Yale Symphony Orchestra in February of 2020. This year, Alec was also chosen as a Yamaha Young Performing Artist, was previously a National YoungArts Winner, and was awarded the Oboe Excellence Scholarship by Nathan Hughes and Jacques Tys at the 2017 Le Domaine Forget International Academy of Music and Dance. Alec was also the winner of the 2019-2020 audition for the Young Musicians Foundation of Colorado and performed on Colorado Public Radio. In high school, Alec was a member of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra and served as principal in both the Colorado All-State Orchestra and All-State Band. As the winner
of DYAO’s Wind Concerto Competition, he performed Eugene Goossens’ Concerto in
One Movement twice in 2016. Alec is also a self-taught saxophonist and performed as the featured soloist in Air Academy High School’s state-champion marching band fortwo years, most notably at the Pasadena Rose Parade in California. Alec enjoys composing and has performed his own arrangement of the national anthem at various minor league sporting events. When he’s not making reeds, even though he’s short, Alec loves playing basketball and spending time with his family.
Michelle Stern:
Michelle Stern, a 16 year old “violinist on the rise to stardom,” (QNS), is critically acclaimed and internationally recognized for her one-of-a-kind, exuberant artistry and masterful technique. She is currently a rising senior, beginning her seventh year at Juilliard’s distinguished Pre-college program under the instruction of Professor Ann Setzer, whereas she’s given yearly solo, chamber, studio, and orchestral performances, acting as concertmistress on several occasions. Working with conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Simon Rattle, and David Robertson, she has additionally played in masterclasses for Anne Akiko Meyers and Josef Špaček. She earned first prizes in the Young Artists Category of the Gershwin International Music Competition 2017, Namei International Music Competition, Concert Festival International Competition, New York Music Competition, Jewish Kids Got Talent, American Protégé International Competition, Chamber Music Society’s Young Musicians program, etc., and has soloed with various orchestras throughout the United States. She attended and performed at the Meadowmount School of Music, the Oyster Bay Music Festival, Barge Music’s Here and Now Series, and participated in the Starling Delay Symposium, American Protégé’s gala at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, the Little Orchestra Society’s winter performance, and Mostly Mozart’s 2020 summer project. She was featured on PBS’s Artscene and NPR’s “Seldom Said,” and has received several city council citations for her community service, academic accomplishments, and musical recognition.