To the editor:

We hope local music lovers are aware that they can attend an exceptional concert at 2 p.m. Sunday when our own Lawrence Chamber Orchestra will present its spring concert at Lawrence Free State High School.

The conductor will be Zuohuang Chen, who won the H.O.P.E. Award for outstanding teaching while he was director of the KU Symphony Orchestra in the 1980s. He later served as music director of orchestras in Wichita, Rhode Island and his native China. He has also appeared as guest conductor of prestigious orchestras in 20 countries.

The orchestra will perform a Haydn symphony and accompany the soloists in three concertos: David Vining, trombone, in the world premiere of a concerto by Lawrence composer Jesse Krebs; Ozzie Backus, double bass, in a concerto by Bottesini; and Anne Kettle, French horn, in a concerto by Richard Strauss.

Like Chen a former KU faculty member, Vining now teaches at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Ozzie and Anne are local high school students who were this year’s winners in the annual Lawrence Chamber Orchestra Young Artist Competition sponsored by the Stephen Paul Wunsch Foundation.

We hope that these gifted musicians will attract the large audience they deserve. Concert tickets may be purchased at the door.

George and Carol Worth,

Lawrence