Continuing its concert series celebrating Women in Classical Music, the Island Symphony Orchestra’s May 19 program will feature the 2024 Young Performer’s Competition Winner, 15-year-old violinist Lauren Kang, who will perform Max Bruch’s popular Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor.

The Island Symphony Orchestra Young Performer’s Concert will be held at St. Peters By-the-Sea Episcopal Church at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 19. Adult tickets will cost $15, while students are free.

The concert will also include the performance of a work by Bay Shore High School Hall of Fame inductee, award-winning composer Jessica Meyer. Meyer will introduce the work to the audience and speak about the musical education she received in Bay Shore and beyond.

The program will conclude with a performance of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G major.

Only 15 years of age, Kang is at the beginning of her career as a musician. Meyer, a member of Bay Shore High School Class of 1992, is well established as an award-winning composer, performer and pedagogue.

Aside from musical talent, Kang and Meyer have one thing in common: they are both the products of Long Island public schools. Their talent was first identified and nurtured by their public school music teachers. This concert will be a celebration of Long Island’s long-held commitment to music education, and a showcase for artists that got their start right here on Long Island.

Kang attends Plainview Old-Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School and studies with Rose Hsien and Eric Tsai. In orchestral settings, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Tilles Center, and Lincoln Center, and has also participated in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra in 2021, where she was principal of the second violin section.

“I was particularly impressed with her lush tone and beautiful phrasing,” shared Island Symphony Orchestra music director, Eric Stewart.

With playing that is “fierce and lyrical” and works that are “other-worldly” (The Strad) and “evocative” (New York Times), Meyer is an award-winning composer and violist whose passionate musicianship radiates accessibility and emotional clarity.

Her first composer/performer portrait album in 2019 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard traditional classical chart, yet Meyer is equally known for her inspirational work as an educator, where she empowers musicians with networking, communication, teaching, and entrepreneurial skills so they can be the best advocates for their own careers.