Paul von Autenried Jr., a seventh grade student at Grover Middle School, is the 2007 winner of the Manalapan Battleground Symphony Young Artists Concerto Competition. He will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat, with the symphony, on Saturday, May 12, at the First Presbyterian Church of Freehold.
Autenried, 13, has been playing the piano since he was four years old. He has been studying piano with Chiu-Tze Lin, of Manalapan, for the past four years. Lin, a Steinway artist, has an international performing career and also serves as music director and conductor for the Manalapan Battleground Symphony.
His younger brothers, Christopher, a fifth grader at Village School, and Kurt, a third grader at Dutch Neck School, also play piano. Their mother, Elizabeth, started all three sons on piano with the Suzuki method, and continues to be very active and supportive in their piano studies. An engineer by education, she also has a master’s in business administration, and is a former compensation manager in human resources. Although she never played piano, she did play the flute for six years. Their father, Paul, a vice president of information management shared services at Bristol-Myers Squibb, played piano for three years as a teen. The family has lived in West Windsor for 10 years.
At Grover, he plays the cello in the school’s chamber group and orchestra, is a student council representative, and plays doubles on the school’s tennis team.
Over the past seven years, Autenreid has performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He has also earned distinction ratings from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Theory and Practical examinations.
Dezheng Ping, a Plainsboro resident for six years, is the concertmaster of the symphony orchestra. Musicians also from Plainsboro include Winston Yang, violinist, and Greg Reworldt, bassoonist. Kevin Luan, the concertmaster of the High School South Orchestra, also plays the violin.
— Lynn Miller
Spring Concert, Manalapan Battleground Symphony, First Presbyterian Church, 118 West Main Street, Freehold, 732-446-8355. $10. Free for ages 16 and under. Saturday, May 12, 7:30 p.m.
