Music scholars Emily Jeffcott, pianist from Lakewood's Sister City Chester, England, and Jefferson County resident, Laura Johnson, violinist, perform individual concertos with the Lakewood Symphony Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 7:30 pm at the Lakewood Cultural Center. Emily will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, and Laura will play Henri Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, Opus 37. Each gifted young musician won the Sister Cities Music Scholar Exchange Program Competitionin her respective city. Lakewood Symphony will also perform Les Preludes by Franz Liszt.

Tickets are $14 and can be purchased by calling 303-987-7845, online at www.Lakewood.org or at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Parkway (Alameda and Wadsworth). Senior, student and group discounts are also available.

The Lakewood City Council will give each scholar an individual Proclamation and Emily and Laura will each perform briefly at the Study Session on Monday, April 6 at 7:00 pm, televised on KLTV Channel 8. While visiting Lakewood, Emily will also perform for Music Scholar program affiliates and at several Jeffco schools and chat with members of the community and students. To further the cultural exchange, Emily will stay with several Jeffco families for the duration of her visit and Laura will be hosted by several families in Chester. Before leaving for England, Laura will also perform a solo recital at the Lakewood Cultural Center on May 17; this is free and open to the public.

Chester Scholar Emily Jeffcott, age 20, hails from Mold in North Wales. She is in her third year at The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), studying with John Gough. She previously was a member of the Junior RNCM and in 2005 won the Blue Ribband Instrumental competition in the National Eisteddfod of Wales. In 2006 Emily won the piano solo competition at the Urdd Eisteddfod and recently appeared on S4C television as an accompanist in the same competition. In addition to piano, Emily plays the cornet and was a member of both The National Youth Brass Band of Wales and The National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain and continues to play as time allows with the Northop Silver Band in Wales and the Pennine Brass Band in Huddersfield. A multi-talented musician, Emily has also achieved distinction for Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) Grade three harp.

This year's Lakewood Scholar, Laura Johnson, age 17, began playing violin at the age of two. She has been studying for the last five years with James Maurer, retired professor of violin from the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music. At the age of seven, Laura began playing piano and has been studying under Alice Rybak, piano professor at the University of Denver, since 2007. As the fourth-born in a family of eight children, Laura was encouraged by her father to share her music with others. In 1999, she joined her three older siblings in forming a family string quartet, which has performed throughout the Denver metro area, including such venues as the Brown Palace Hotel, Coors Field, the Broadmoor Hotel, the Colorado State Capitol, and at the KVOD Performance Studio. Laura has also begun teaching private violin lessons. At the age of twelve, she joined the Denver Young Artists Orchestra. Now enjoying her sixth season with the orchestra, Laura was chosen as the 2009 DYAO Concerto Competition winner.

Although music is a life-long passion for Laura, she is also keenly interested in nursing. With a love for serving others, she earned her Certified Nurse Aid license at the age of 16 and regularly serves as a volunteer in the pediatrics department at Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge. As a home-educated high school senior, Laura is currently taking nursing prerequisite classes at Red Rocks Community College. It is her goal to complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree while continuing to share her music with others.

The Lakewood, Colorado/Chester, England, Sister Cities Music Scholar Exchange Program and Competition was established in 1986 to further cultural relations between Jefferson County and Chester. The program is supported by the City of Lakewood, Lakewood Symphony, Lakewood Sister Cities, Lakewood Rotary, Lakewood Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and Jefferson County Schools.