By Daniel Buckwalter

It was a fleeting moment in the swarming chaos and uncertainty that surrounds us, but it was good for one evening to be reminded of beauty and the joy of youthful vision.

That came to mind especially on May 17 when the Oregon Mozart Players — under the direction of artistic director-designate David Amado — held its annual season-finale spring concert at Beall Concert Hall at the University of Oregon and celebrated youth performers from the area and the state.

Da Capo, the name of this year’s program, was OMP’s tip of the cap to the Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestra and the collaborative work it has done with the Eugene Symphony organization through the years. Fourteen members of the youth orchestra joined OMP for the night’s opening piece of resistance and heroism, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Egmont Overture. 

What followed is what I always enjoy about the Oregon Mozart Players’ season-ending concerts: listening to and watching the winners of OMP’s annual Young Soloist Competition.

First up was violinist Yuwei Zhang, the Junior Division first-place winner, leading OMP in Spanish composer Pablo de Sarasate’s Introduction and Tarantella. The introduction is slow moving, and it contrasts with the Tarantella segment, which is a fun, bouncy passage with rapid-fire folk music.

At least onstage, Zhang, a 7th grader at Eugene’s Roosevelt Middle School, stands ramrod straight and, while nailing the piece perfectly, she never broke into a smile afterward. From my distant vantage point, it looked like Amado had to prod her into taking a second bow before an appreciative audience before exiting the stage.

Zhang has a future in music, and so, too, does violinist Andrew Lee, this year’s Senior Division first-place winner. Lee is a student at Beaverton’s Sunset High School, and he was given the task of leading OMP through the first movement of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D Minor.

Even as I wish he were more expressive physically on stage, Lee was impressive in his play, conveying a technical prowess and setting the intensely dark and emotional tone of the piece. He received a standing ovation, and it was well deserved.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s four-movement Jupiter Symphony, his final symphony before dying in 1791 at age 35, capped off the evening. It is a stirring piece of music that was wonderfully performed by OMP.

It also was an important reminder to embrace today’s youths and encourage them to keep the momentum of Western classical music going — a side note to the swarming chaos and uncertainty that surrounds us.