HSO Concerto Competition winners featured in season finale concert

Sofia Taylor, Yoyo Jiang, and Alan Mao - Hopkins Symphony Orchestra season finale features Concerto Competition winners Three students who major in fields outside of music will be featured soloists at the April 23 concert At a Hopkins Symphony Orchestra concert on Saturday, April 23, the featured soloists will include a pianist, flutist, and violinist-students who don't major in music, but rather in STEM fields. They're the winners of the biannual Hopkins Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition , which honors students not majoring in music with the distinction to perform featured concertos of their choosing during an HSO concert. Freshman Alan Mao developed a passion for the piano early in his life. He started playing when he was 4 years old, inspired by his older sister, Sarah, who was the first in the family to play an instrument. His fascination for the sciences led him to pursue biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins, later adding a major in computer science, but his passion for music hasn't faded. Alan Mao playing the piano - He'll be on stage with the HSO for the first time at the April concert, performing César Franck's Symphonic Variations . Mao says the Symphonic Variations , written in 1885, was one of the last works Franck composed-and the work Franck considered to be one of his greatest.