All Classical Radio | On Deck with Young Musicians

Kaden Prichard is a freshman at Rex Putnam High School where he plays in the Wind Ensemble under Jeff Wilson. He started playing clarinet in the third grade and has been a student of Dunja Marcum since then. When he's not gaming or relacing a pair of sneakers, he enjoys cooking, swimming and will be trying out the golf team this spring. He's been an active member of MYS ensembles since 2018 and has been performing as part of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra for the past two seasons. Adam Eccleston hosts.

Amy Faust gets to know Maya Hausman, a senior at Cleveland High school who plays flute and piccolo (plus a little bit of clarinet!) for various school ensembles as well as the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. Maya started playing the piano at age 5, but as a member of the Cherokee Nation she was drawn early on to the native flute playing at the tribal gatherings her family would attend each summer. Her passion for classical music is matched by her drive to bring attention to indigenous history and justice. At Cleveland, she co-founded a native student union and is part of the campaign to change the school’s name due to Grover Cleveland’s anti-indigenous policies. For this segment, Maya plays a contemporary piece (Homeland, by Allison Loggins-Hull) that evokes her people’s history of displacement.

Christa Wessel chats with 18-year old pianist Joshua Hahn. Joshua loves how music demands perseverance and dedication, and also how it can connect us to emotion and memory deep inside us.

Violinist Leena Karmarkar was only 4 years old when her parents signed her up for music lessons. Now at 17, she’s the concertmaster at the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. Leena talks about losing motivation during the pandemic, and how she got her joy back. A junior at Portland’s Lincoln High School, she enjoys being challenged. Leena is working toward an IB diploma, and in her spare time she runs cross country and volunteers at YouthLine, a teen-to-teen crisis line. Raul Gomez-Rojas hosts.

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 was purchased for $49 on Amazon.com.