On Deck with Young Musicians
As of March 2025, On Deck with Young Musicians is no longer producing new episodes. This program featured inspirational interviews that celebrate and showcase the incredibly talented young musicians who live and perform in the Pacific Northwest: the young people who are shaping the future of classical music. The archive below features episodes hosted by Christa Wessel, Adam Eccleston, Raúl Gómez-Rojas, Jahlysa Azaret, and Lisa Lipton.
April 15, 2017
On Deck with Natalie Tan
Natalie Tan is a 15-year old pianist and high school freshman who has won several competitions recently, including a spot on this year’s MetroArts Young Artists Debut concert. Interestingly, though, she insists she isn’t very talented, which sparked a fascinating conversation about talent, practice and determination. You can hear more from Natalie on her YouTube channel. …
April 8, 2017
On Deck with Fumika Mizuno
Fumika Mizuno is an 18-year old violinist and high school senior who has won a spot on the MetroArts Young Artists Debut concert for the second time. We last talked with Fumika during her freshman year; in this episode we’ll see what has changed in her life since then. Here’s a video of Fumika -and …
April 1, 2017
On Deck with Rebecca Yakos
Rebecca Yakos was one of the very first young musicians Christa ever featured “On Deck”; they originally chatted –on episode #4 of the show– back in the fall of 2013. Now that Rebecca has won a spot on this year’s MetroArts Young Artists Debut concert (her second win, by the way – she also appeared on …
March 25, 2017
On Deck with Tara Palazuelos
If Tara’s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because she was interviewed less than a year ago when she came to Christa’s attention as a member of the Pacific Youth Choir. Tara has now, though, won a spot on this year’s MetroArts Young Artist Debut concert, which means we have the opportunity to catch up with her …
March 18, 2017
On Deck with Jenny Yu
15-year old high school sophomore Jenny Yu is a pianist, a violinist, and a four-time national medalist in ice-dancing. Jenny actually started playing piano in order to add musicality to her skating. Jenny is the second in a series of nine profiles on the winners of this year’s MetroArts Young Artist Debut concert. Below are …
March 11, 2017
On Deck with John Fawcett
With this episode of “On Deck” we begin a series of nine episodes featuring the winners of this year’s MetroArts Young Artist competition. Meet 16-year old violinist John Fawcett… or rather, re-meet him: he actually won a spot on this same concert two years ago. We’ll chat with him about that performance (when he was just 14), …
March 4, 2017
On Deck with Tommy Cohen
The Metropolitan Youth Symphony has provided 17-year old cellist Tommy Cohen with seven years of wonderful experiences, but two specific events rank as his most memorable: one was a trip to China, and the other was an interaction with Yo-Yo Ma that led to the famous cellist actually playing Tommy’s cello. In this episode of “On …
February 18, 2017
On Deck with 300 Watts String Trio
300 Watts String Trio consists of three siblings: 16-year old violist Shania Watts, 14-year old cellist Jonathan Watts, and 12-year old violinist Darah Watts. In the four years they have been playing together as an ensemble, they’ve created a number of their own arrangements born of improvisation and their varied musical interests (jazz, latin, and …
February 11, 2017
On Deck with Josephine West
Josephine West is an 18-year old pianist, violinist and singer who got her start with music by singing and chanting in her family’s Greek Orthodox Church. During her sophomore year, Josephine started an early-college program. Josephine now has her Associate’s Degree and will be attending Portland State University in the Fall of 2017 to pursue …
February 4, 2017
On Deck with Gustav Baur
Gustav Baur is the first bagpiper to ever appear “On Deck.” In addition to playing bagpipes, the 16-year old high school sophomore is also a Scottish fiddler and he sings with the Pacific Youth Choir. In this episode of “On Deck” we’ll learn why Gustav was drawn to the bagpipes (hint: is has something to do …
