Introducing Project: Music Heals Us Young Artist, Zoe Lonsinger

Project: Music Heals Us will present its Mixtape #3 - A Gypsy Fantasia on February 16 at Guilford First Congregational Church, located at 122 Broad Street, Guilford, CT, at 7PM. A PRE-CONCERT LECTURE will begin at 6PM. Young Artist Zoe Lonsinger, violin, will be featured at 6:45 pm.

Thirteen-year-old violinist Zoe Lonsinger recalls sitting on her mother’s lap while she taught violin lessons. Soon came her own violin lessons, when Zoe fell in love with the tone and the feeling of playing the violin.

Having won international awards and played as a soloist with several orchestras, Zoe recently relocated to Seattle from Sandy Hook, CT. She will be returning to Connecticut for a couple of concerts this month. On February 16, Zoe will be featured as the Young Artist with Project: Music Heals Us, a series that brings classical music to those who need it most. February 16th’s concert will take place at First Congregational Church in Guilford, and Zoe will play at 6:45.

Ms. Lonsinger currently studies violin with Seattle Symphony violinist and teacher Simon James, following the death of her beloved teacher Joey Corpus. She says, “I love all of my teachers and all of them have taught me important things. I think that my previous violin teacher, Joey Corpus, might have been one of the most important teachers in my life. He started teaching me when I was really young and he laid the groundwork of my violin playing. He was nurturing and really cared about me as a person.”

When Zoe is not practicing or performing on the violin, she loves to read, spend time with friends and family, and play with her dog and two cats. She also loves learning about the Ancient Roman, Greek, and Egyptian cultures, and life science. Ballet is another passion, and she describes loving the freedom that she feels when she dances to music by great composers like Tchaikovsky.

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear Zoe play on February 16 in Guilford. Following her performance, stay for a 7 pm concert performed by internationally renowned musicians Josu DeSolaun, piano; Anna Petrova, piano; Anna Nilsen, violin; Jesus Reina, violin; and Chieh-Fan Jay Yiu, viola.

The 7 pm concert program is comprised of pieces voted as favorites by audiences last season. Included will be an improvised Fantasia on a Russian Gypsy Folk Tune played by violinist Jesus Reina; Navarra for Two Violins, Op. 33 by Pablo Sarasate - a virtuosic piece based on an intricate dance originating in Northern Spain; Antonin Dvořák’s Terzetto in C major, Op. 74 which is written for the unusual combination of two violins and a viola; and Fantasia in F minor for piano - four-hands, D 940 by Franz Schubert, completed a few months before the composer’s death and dedicated to a woman he loved unrequitedly.

Tickets at the door: $20 adults/$5 students with all proceeds directly subsidizing additional “Healing Concerts” played in local nursing homes, hospitals, hospices, homeless shelters, and prisons. Project: Music Heals Us presents interactive classical music performances to diverse audiences by artists of the highest caliber in order to provide encouragement, education and healing, with a focus on elderly, disabled, rehabilitating, incarcerated and homeless populations. For more information please visit www.projectmusichealsus.com or email projectmusichealsus@gmail.com.