On Deck with Young Musicians
Saturdays at 5pm PT
On Deck with Young Musicians is an inspirational weekly interview segment that celebrates and showcases the incredibly talented young musicians who live and perform in the Pacific Northwest: the young people who are shaping the future of classical music. Created and hosted by Christa Wessel, select episodes of On Deck are also hosted by Adam Eccleston, Raúl Gómez-Rojas, and Lisa Lipton.
Tune in Saturdays at 5:00 PM PT, and revisit past interviews using the links below or by following On Deck on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
If you know of a young musician who should be profiled for On Deck, please email Christa Wessel at christa@allclassical.org.
On Deck with Young Musicians is made possible in part by support from the Metropolitan Youth Symphony.
February 29, 2020
On Deck with Andrew Schroeder
Andrew Schroeder is a very busy 15-year old sophomore at Sam Barlow High School. He is involved in multiple choirs and bands at school (he plays French horn), and he also sings in multiple ensembles with the Pacific Youth Choir. Additionally, he works twice a week at a memory care center, playing music for residents… More
February 8, 2020
On Deck with Dina Biggs
Dina Biggs is a 14-year old clarinetist, and a freshman at West Linn High School. Though Dina has only been playing clarinet for 3 years she is already quite good: she is the only freshman in her school’s Symphonic Band, and she plays first clarinet in the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Fun fact: her first clarinet… More
February 1, 2020
On Deck with Kaitlyn Brown
Kaitlyn Brown is a 16-year old junior at Tualatin High School, and she plays percussion in many ensembles, both at school at with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. As a percussionist, she loves having the opportunity to play “weird” instruments (think: brake drum!), but her favorite percussion instrument is tympani, because it makes her feel like… More
January 11, 2020
On Deck with Ethan Tseng
Ethan Tseng is a 15-year old sophomore at Oregon Episcopal School (and cellist with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony) who finds himself equally devoted to both cello and golf. He has won countless competitions in both. In this episode of “On Deck” we’ll examine how those two passions complement each other.
December 21, 2019
On Deck with Fiona Dubay
17-year old Fiona Dubay comes from a very musical family. She herself sings (with two choirs within the Pacific Youth Choir organization) AND plays viola (in two ensembles with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony). As passionate as she is about music -and music education- she is equally passionate about the environment, and hopes to pursue a… More
December 14, 2019
On Deck with AJ Ah-Yek
Born in Samoa, AJ Ah-Yek is now a 17-year old senior at Columbia River High School in Vancouver, Washington. In addition to playing in both his high school’s jazz and concert bands, he is also a member of the varsity football team. That’s a lot to juggle… but on top of it all, he is… More
November 23, 2019
On Deck with Jessica Mason
Jessica Mason is a 17-year old senior at Franklin High School who plays a multitude of instruments: violin, cello, piano, just to name a few… but her favorite is trumpet. She plays in two ensembles with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, and several other community groups as well. There is nothing she’d rather be doing than… More
November 2, 2019
On Deck with Amir Avsker
Israeli-born Amir Avsker plays piano, violin & French horn, but he identifies most as a composer. At just 12-years old, this 7th grader already has 63 compositions to his name. In this episode of “On Deck” we’ll learn whose music serves as Amir’s biggest inspiration.
October 19, 2019
On Deck with Abbie Schipper
Abbie Schipper is a 17-year old senior at St. Mary’s Academy. She is a soprano and sings in four different choirs (including three choirs within the Pacific Youth Choir organization). Music is a huge part of her life, and she recently began hearing it more clearly: after experiencing ‘high frequency hearing loss’ for more than… More
October 12, 2019
On Deck with Eric Acosta Medina
Eric Acosta-Medina is a 14-year old trombonist who got his start in music through Bravo Youth Orchestras (an organization which provides intensive orchestral instruction to under-served youth in schools throughout Portland). Since then, Eric has gone on to some pretty great things: he was accepted this summer into the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA)… More
