Joshua Everett Andrew Suslak, also known as West Windsor’s “Piano Man,” performs as a soloist at the Westminster Community Orchestra concert on Saturday, March 19, at 8 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus. Affiliated with the community music school of Westminster Choir College of Rider University, the orchestra will perform the Roman Carnival Overture by Hector Berlioz as well as Bela Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra. Suslak will perform Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto, opus 16.
Suslak, 14, is a freshman at High School South, is one of three concerto competition winners at Westminster Conservatory of Music, where he has studied since 2002 under the direction of Rita Shklar. Suslak has performed at both Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center (November 22, 2003) and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall (May 8, 2004) as the winner of the Cecilian Youth Artist Competition and the Golden Key Music and Arts Festival, respectively.
The youngest child of Jerry and Renee Suslak, his siblings include Adam, 26, a medical doctor; Lauren, 23, a student at Northeastern University; and David, 20, a student at Syracuse University.
Suslak has performed in the area for several years. For the past two summers he has entertained the community at West Windsor’s Summer Sounds Concert Series held at the senior center gazebo. He plays classical music, jazz, rock, and show tunes. When he was 10, he began performing for the residents of Bear Creek Assisted Living Center in West Windsor and has presented music at Forsgate Assisted Living and at the University Medical Center at Princeton. During his years at Grover Middle School, he was the musical director for both “Peter Pan” and “The Wizard of Oz.”
The other two soloists and competition winners are students of Larissa Korkina of West Windsor. Farshad Tahvildar-Zadeh, is a sixth grade student at Princeton Charter School. He will join the orchestra for Piano Concerto No.3, opus 50 by Dmitri Kabalevsk. Carl Aquino, is a ninth-grade student at South Brunswick High School. He will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, opus 40.
Korkina, born in Russia, has lived in West Windsor for 13 years. A concert pianist, she is an accomplished musician and an artist faculty member of Westminster Conservatory. She teaches piano to both children and adults at Westminster and at her home studio.
After studying at the Moscow Conservatory of Music, she attended Byelorussian Academy of Music, where she later became part of the music faculty.
Korkina now enjoys a successful career as chamber musician, coach, accompanist, and teacher. She has performed in concert at Academy of Music of Philadelphia, the Friends of Music Series at Taplin Hall, Longwood Gardens Concert Series, and Westminster Conservatory.
Korkina has been a coach and accompanist for Opera International and the Opera Festival of New Jersey. She has collaborated with opera singers, including Maria Guleghina of the Metropolitan Opera, Perry Ward, Hanli Stapela, and Jingma Fan. As a member of the Music Teachers National Association, she serves as an adjudicator for competitions, festivals, and the New Jersey Governor’s School.
— Lynn Miller
Admission for this concert is $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and students. For more information about Westminster Conservatory visit https://www.rider.edu/
westminster/conserv. For tickets call Richardson Auditorium at 609-258-5000.
