In the News...
Justin Wayne Lewis named
Penn State 2008 Graduate Exhibition Performance Winner
March 3oth- Last Friday night the walls of Esber Recital Hall resonated with sounds of nine different graduate student performances. All performers were evaluated by a panel of guest judges who were picked from the local community. After a quick deliberation break, the top three were announced.
Justin Wayne Lewis, a graduate student in cello performance and orchestral conducting, received the first place and won the graduate school award for his performance of David Popper's Hungarian Rhapsody.
Click below to hear a recording of the winning performances and a post-concert interview with Justin and his wife Jennifer.
First Place - Justin Wayne Lewis performing Hungarian Rhapsody by David Popper
Second Place - Hyun Joo Park performing Sonata No.2 Op.36 B-flat minor 1st. Movement by Rachimaninoff
Third Place - Lauren Mouney performing "Solveigs Sang" from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg and "Czardas" from Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss
Interview with Justin Wayne Lewis
Interview with Jennifer Lewis
-ComRadio Report, March 31st
CELLO CHILLIN'
Thursday, February 07, 2008
WHAT: "Warm Up with a Cello"
WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Whitaker Center, 222 Market St., Harrisburg
OF NOTE: Local cellist Justin Lewis joins the Central Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Anton Dvorak's "Cello Concerto in B minor" as he embarks on his professional career.
Lewis performed the concerto last year with the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra. "A couple years ago, I made a list of goals, and playing this concerto with an orchestra was on there," he said.
CPSO's program at Whitaker also will include "Children's Corner" and "Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy, and "Wind Serenade" by Richard Strauss. The 60-member community orchestra is conducted by Gregory Woodbridge.
Lewis, whose mother and grandmother were both cellists, first picked up the instrument at age 3 and gave his first public recital at age 6. He recently graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in cello performance from Temple University's Boyer College of Music.
Lewis has recorded a chamber music album titled "Through Window's Lattices" for the Centaur Label. Later this year, he will tour in Armenia, Lithuania and Russia.
DAVID N. DUNKLE, The Patriot-News
OCTOBER 11, 2007 The Penn State Daily Collegian
ALWAYS ROOM FOR CELLO
Philharmonic Orchestra Kicks off Season
Music enthusiasts will be privy to witness a Penn State cellist achieve a lifelong goal this Sunday evening.
Justin Lewis (graduate-cello performance and orchestral conducting), accompanied by the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra, will entertain the audience with Dvorák's Cello Concerto in B Minor at 8 p.m. in the Eisenhower Auditorium.
With two professional musicians as parents, Lewis picked up a cello at the age of three, and has not put it down since.
"A couple years ago, I made a list of goals, and playing this concerto with an orchestra was on there," he said.
Gerardo Edelstein, the director of the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra, said Lewis was selected by faculty members in the annual "concerto competition" to play his solo with the orchestra.
Edelstein said the selection decision is based on musicianship, quality and preparation, among other things.
"[Lewis] has a beautiful sound from his cello and excellent technique," Edelstein said.
Lewis said he chose Dvorák's concerto because it is often referred to as "the king of cello concertos."
Believing for much of his life that a concerto couldn't be written for a cello, Dvorák finally decided to compose one after coming to the United States. He created one of the most well known concertos for any instrument, Lewis said.
Comparing playing Dvorák's piece to running a marathon, Lewis said the music is technically challenging throughout the entire piece.
"I'm going to be nervous, but after a while, you just have to relax and have fun," he said.
Lewis, who has been preparing for the performance since January, said he feels an audience knows when a musician is not enjoying himself.