05/17/2026
Time: 2 PM
500 S Country Rd, Bay Shore
Photo Credit: Island Photography
A 13-year-old standout is taking center stage on Long Island.
Emily Sun, winner of the 2026 Island Symphony Orchestra Young Performers Competition, will perform Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Island Symphony Orchestra at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, at St. Peters By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Bay Shore. The concert will be conducted by Musical Director, Eric R. Stewart.
Sun, who began playing cello in 2021 at age 8, quickly emerged as a rising talent. After starting lessons virtually during the pandemic, she was admitted to The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division just one year later. Since age 9, she has studied under Astrid Schween of the Juilliard String Quartet.
Her accolades include winning the 2025 Sound Symphony Concerto Competition and earning a prize in the 2025 Adelphi Orchestra Concerto Competition.
The May 17 program will also feature the Overture to Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1.
Tickets are available on Eventbrite or at the door. Admission is $20 for adults and free for students.
The Island Symphony Orchestra will close its 2025–26 season with a free, family-friendly concert on June 20 at Bay Shore Middle School. The program will feature a bilingual (Spanish and English) performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf (Pedro y el Lobo), along with Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. Guest artists include violinist Luxi Wang and violist Zitian Lyu, both graduate students in Stony Brook University’s prestigious music department.
For more information, visit islandsymphony.org.
