Symphony’s Spring Concert to feature Dominik Yoder
1952-2021
The Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Dr. David Newby, will perform Sunday, March 7 via livestream on the Tehachapi Symphony Facebook page. It will begin at 4 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini will feature pianist Dominik Yoder, who directed unusual passion and determination toward music from a very young age, beginning piano studies at the age of 2 on his own initiative. His playing has been described as “authoritative and lyrical, a powerful technique spiced with an impish sense of humor.”
He received the gold medal in the 2018 Kosciuszko Foundation Competition for Young Pianists in Washington, D.C., and he was awarded first prize in the Parness Concerto Competition, the Long Beach Mozart Festival, the Southwestern Youth Music
Festival Competitions, and the Music Teachers Association of California and the California Professional Association of Music Teachers State Competitions. Recently he won the grand prize in the Redlands Competition, playing with the Hollywood Orchestra in the Redlands Bowl.
Yoder has performed in Zelazowa Wola (the birthplace of Frederic Chopin) and elsewhere in Poland, Puerto Rico, Germany and the United States in solo recital, and he has performed with the Culver City Symphony Orchestra, the
Southwest Youth Chamber Music Festival Orchestra, and the Hollywood Orchestra in Redlands Bowl. He has performed on Polish television and radio, and has participated in master classes with Dina Joffe, Eteri Andjaparidze, Dmitry Rachmanov, Wojciech Kocjan, Antoinette Perry, Edward Wolanin, Professor of the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
In the 2019 Art of Piano Festival, Dominik studied with Alexander Korsantia, Boris Berman, and Jura Margolis. He performed as part of the Knox Piano
Trio during the 19-20 JCM season. He will compete in the Gina Bachauer Young Artists International Piano Competition.
Yoder has been homeschooled his whole life and is now in the 12th grade. He enjoys surfing, rock climbing and astrophysics. He studies piano with Ró a Kostrzewska Yoder. He claims that the pros to having your parent as your teacher is that you can have a lesson every day and it’s more personal. He does admit to liking to argue even though he realizes that his mother knows everything.
Due to the county’s COVID-19 restrictions, our March 7 concert cannot be attended in person. Instead we plan to livestream it on Facebook at 4 p.m., so you can watch it from the comfort of your own home.
Although all Tehachapi Symphony Orchestra concerts are free to the community, donations are still welcome. For more information, see tehachapiorchestra.com or call 821-7511.
Richard Kirk Davis, beloved husband, stepfather and grandfather (Pops), son, brother, uncle, and friend, passed away on Feb.13, 2021, at his home in Deer Park, Wash., after a valiant battle with cancer. He is survived by his loving wife, Paula; stepdaughter, Veronica and grandson, Alexander, both of Spokane, Wash.; one sister, Diane (David) Scott, of Snowflake, Ariz.; one brother, Tim (BJ), of Reno, Nev.; eight nieces and nephews and numerous other extended family members.
Rick was born June 5, 1952, in Pittsburgh, Penn., the second child born to Richard and Ila Mae Davis, who created a loving home where he enjoyed a happy childhood. At the age of 9, he moved with his family to La Puente, Calif. After a year they moved to Tehachapi, Calif, where Rick completed his remaining school years and graduated from Tehachapi High School. He loved Tehachapi, it was always “home” to him, and where he made many lifelong friends and so many special memories.
After high school he attended Bakersfield College and was employed at Mercy Hospital where he acquired skills in Central Supply which served him well in securing future employment.
He married Paula Hillyard in 1984 at Zephyr Cove, Nev., although they lived in Castro Valley, Calif. After 10 years, they returned to Sparks, Nev., and eventually settled in Deer Park, Wash., in 1997. Rick retired from Deaconess Medical Center after 14 years as Lead Tech of the Central Service Department. He enjoyed his sterile processing work and made even more lifelong friends.
At the time of his passing, Rick was enjoying retirement with Paula. He was a real “people person,” interested in others, a great listener and storyteller, and was loved and respected by all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.