Oregon Mozart Players to spotlight young cellists at Eugene concert

Emma Jang, 13, and Koyuki Blaumer, 16, stepped into the spotlight at Beall Concert Hall on Saturday night as Oregon Mozart Players used its Rising Tides program to put young cellists at the center of a one-night-only Eugene performance. The concert paired student soloists with major orchestral works, giving Lane County audiences a direct look at musicians who are already advancing through Oregon’s classical pipeline.

Jang, the junior division winner in the orchestra’s Young Soloist Competition, performed the first movement of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B Minor. Blaumer, the senior division winner, played Alberto Ginastera’s Pampeana No. 2. Oregon Mozart Players said the competition is open to young musicians residing in Oregon or taking lessons in the state, and its 2025-2026 awards also included first- and second-place prizes in both junior and senior divisions, underscoring that the concert was built around a wider field of emerging talent, not just the two featured soloists.

The program opened with Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides Overture, performed with members of the Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestras, before moving to the student concerto winners and closing with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Artistic Director David Amado led the concert, which fit into Oregon Mozart Players’ 2025-2026 season, Metamorphosis. The orchestra has described that season as part of a dynamic new era under its next artistic direction, a message that framed Rising Tides as more than a standard classical program.

Founded in 1982 by local professional musicians, Oregon Mozart Players has long tied performance to community reach in Eugene-Springfield. That history made Beall Hall a fitting setting for the concert, especially with the Oregon Humanities Center as cosponsor. The hall, on the University of Oregon campus at 961 E. 18th Avenue, has 520 seats, reserved seating, wheelchair-accessible seating and assisted listening devices, and it is known for its acoustics.

For Eugene, the concert pointed to something larger than a single evening on the arts calendar. It showed how a local orchestra can still function as a training ground, a stage and a public showcase at the same time, giving younger players a visible role in a city that has helped shape their rise.