Young Artists, Gala of Arias on Sunday

Attention music lovers: the Morgan Park Summer Music Festival on Sunday, July 14, hosts a showcase of young talents from across the North Shore. The audience will then be treated to an evening of arias, featuring bass soloist Peter Maravell, accompanied by Vladimir Polezhayev on piano.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m., winners of this year’s Young Performers Competition will present an evening of classical and pop music.             

Headlining the show this year is the competition winner, the vocal duet of Alyssa DeGuzman, 18, of Roslyn Heights and Deena Hower, 23, of New Hyde Park. DeGuzman currently studies vocal performance at Aldephi University. Hower, a graduate of the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Brooklyn College.  

Performing, too, is pianist  Jasmine Galante, 13, the junior winner who attends Roslyn Middle School. Galante is also the winner of the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition and the American Protage International Piano and String Competition.

Vocalist Patrick Wilhelm, 16 of Locust Valley, is the competition's pop winner will also perform. A student at Locust Valley High School, Wilhelm studies at Stella Adler Acting Conservancy.

Maravell and Polezhayev, two highly acclaimed musicians in the region, will then take the stage. Maravell has sung with such prestigious companies as the Robert Shaw Chorale, the Rome Opera Company and the New York City Opera. Maravell’s vocal range is wide; he is equally proficient with Broadway show tunes as opera and love songs. Accompaning pianist Vladimir Polezhayev is well known to MPSMF audiences for his many appearances on the Morgan Park stage. He attended Russia’s St. Petersburg Conservatory where he met his wife, Yelena. They have performed together as duo-pianists at many important venues in Europe, Canada and the United States. Their sons, Anton and Simon, are also professional musicians.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket or chairs and picnic, and children are welcome.  Alcoholic beverages are not permitted in Morgan Park.  Morgan Park is located on Germaine Street at the end of Landing Road in Glen Cove.  In the event of rain, the concert will be held in St. Patrick’s Parish Hall, Pearsall Avenue, Glen Cove.  For further information, call (516) 671-0017, email morganparkmusic@yahoo.com or visit www.morganparkmusic.org.

Morgan Park Summer Music Festival is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that has been providing free concerts in the park for 54 years.  The shows are completely funded through the generous donations that are received from businesses and individuals.   Taxpayer money is not asked for nor received to bring this high caliber talent to the Festival year after year.