French Hornist Leelanee Sterrett will be one of the guest artists at the Essex Winter Series Master Class to be held at the Community Music School, March 31.

Essex Winter Series will present a Master Class for French horn, trumpet, and trombone on Monday, March 31 at 4 p.m.  Held at the Community Music School at 90 Main Street in Centerbrook, brass students will perform select pieces for critique and tips by guest artists Leelanee Sterrett (French horn), Paul Murphy (trumpet) and Stephen Dunn (trombone).

Sterrett is the Essex Winter Series 2014 Fenton Brown Emerging Arist.  She joined the New York Philharmonic as assistant principal and utility horn in June 2013. She was previously a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and the La Crosse and Fox Valley Symphonies in Wisconsin.

After attending Interlochen Arts Academy, she earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a student of Douglas Hill, and the Yale School of Music, with William Purvis.  She is a past prizewinner in the International Horn Competition of America.

This special opportunity to gain a deeper knowledge and appreciation for the performing arts is free and open to the public, and is one of the many programs through which Essex Winter Series presents community outreach activities. It is also another chance to experience the gifted talent of Sterrett who will be performing with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra at the Essex Winter Series concert on March 30.

Now in its 31st year of enriching the Connecticut Valley-Shoreline communities by offering outstanding private and group music instruction for all ages, the Community Music School is a private, non-profit organization that sponsors many ensembles, orchestras and events covering a broad spectrum of musical interests while focusing on public performances and community outreach programs as a key component of its mission.

For more information on the Community Music School, visit www.community-music-school.org or call 860.767.0026.

International prizewinning pianist Kuok-Wai Lio will perform at the Chester Meeting House on Sunday, April 6, at 5 p.m.

The Collomore Concert Series, celebrating its 40th anniversary season, is welcoming Kuok-Wai Lio, a 25-year-old brilliant performer, to the historic Chester Meeting House on Sunday, April 6, at 5 p.m.  The concert is the third in this season of the Robbie Collomore Concert Series.

Born in Macau in 1989, Kuok-Wai began his piano studies at the age of five.  In 1997 he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and in 2006 he entered the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia. His principal teachers have included Gabriel Kwok and Gary Graffman.  Most recently, Kuok-Wai has been working regularly with András Schiff at international master classes and festivals in Europe.

His recent performances include solo recitals at the Ravinia Festival, Vancouver Recital Series, as well as chamber music concerts at the Salzburg Festival.  A regular participant of Open Chamber Music Prussia Cove, and the Marlboro and Santa Fe Chamber Music festivals, Kuok-Wai has also performed with the Macau Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, Grand Rapids Symphony, Curtis Chamber Orchestra, Russian Symphony Orchestra and Camerata Salzburg.  He has given solo recitals in Japan, Germany and Italy.  In 2013 Kuok-Wai Lio was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant Award.

His Chester concert will include Schubert’s Four Impromptus, the “Waldstein” Sonata in C Major by Beethoven, and Schumann’s Fantasy in C Major.

Tickets for his Chester concert are $21.  For students from elementary through graduate school, a ticket is $5.  All ticket-holders are invited to stay for a reception, with refreshments provided by Simon’s Market, after the concert to meet the performer.

For tickets, call (860) 526-5162 or visit www.collomoreconcerts.org.  The Chester Meetinghouse is located on Goose Hill Road in Chester.  The concert is sponsored by First Niagara Bank.