Accordionist Nathan Chapeton will have an exciting Spring, to say the least! He has worked diligently to improve his musical skills on the accordion, and it has paid off with an amazing opportunity!

He was chosen from among 13 candidates at Middletown High School to perform as a soloist when they present “Middletown High Goes to the Symphony” with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. He will perform Pietro Deiro’s “Concerto in E, Rondo Movement” as a soloist with the symphony.

Students from Middletown High School’s Concert Band, String Orchestra, and Concert Chorus will perform WITH the New Haven Symphony at this event, along with several other student soloists.

The New Haven Symphony partners with the Bushnell Center for the Arts in Hartford to host the event. Maestro William Boughton of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Maestro Edward Cumming, University of Hartford Orchestra, and Neely Bruce, Wesleyan University Professor of Music, will share the podium during this magnificent collaboration between the high school, local university, and the community.

The concert will take place on May 11, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at The Bushnell Center for the Arts in Hartford. Tickets for the concert and further information can be obtained online at www.middletownschools.org/symphony or email symphony@mpsct.org.

Nathan Chapeton (14), a student of Mary Tokarski of Northford, CT has studied the accordion for almost six years now, and just this past October represented the United States at the Coupe Mondiale (world accordion championship) in Salzburg, Austria.

He competed in the Junior Virtuoso Entertainment Category, which highlights the talents of young accordionists (under the age of 18) from countries around the world. Nathan’s program consisted of music by famed Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, Bulgarian composer Todor Gerov, Russian composer Vladimir Zubitsky and American composer/accordionist John Pezzolo. He plans to represent the U.S. again in the 2016 Coupe Mondiale being held in Rostov on Don, Russia.

Nathan has also recently appeared as a Guest Artist at the Long Island Accordion Alliance, the Brooklyn Accordion Club, and the Connecticut Accordion Association’s annual holiday Concert at the Blackstone Library. His plans for the future include introducing the accordion to young people around the United States through performances and workshops on the qualities of the instrument and its music.