CHEN, QUINTET TO OPEN YOUNG ARTISTS SERIES

Pianist Edith Chen and the Quintette du Soleil will initiate the new Young Artists Series in the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Society season at 8 p.m. Sunday at Laguna Beach High School.

The series is intended to provide concert opportunities for young, award-winning musicians.

Chen, a 16-year-old native of Taiwan, will play Beethoven’s Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Opus 57, “Appassionata,” and Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Opus 35.

The Quintette du Soleil, which began in 1984 as the USC Graduate Quintet, will play one of six quintets from Anton Reicha’s Opus 88 and Gyorgy Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (written in 1953).

Chen won the first prize at the Taiwan National Piano Competition at the age of 9. Shortly afterward, she immigrated to the United States. She has studied with Misha Dichter and currently is studying with Aube Tzerko at UCLA. She has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles-based Quintette du Soleil is made up of flutist Elizabeth Bohm, oboist Francisco Castillo, clarinetist Lorence Honda, bassoonist Charles Coker and French horn player Nathan Campbell. Members of the quintet have performed locally with the Pasadena Symphony and the American Youth Symphony.

For further information, call (714) 494-2822.