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Young West Chester violinist named to national orchestra

A violin career that began when she was 3, playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" at home outside of Seoul, South Korea, has led a Chester County teenager to deliver award-winning classical performances at venues in Florida, California, Ohio, North Carolina - and Romania.

Sein An won her first international competition in Romania at age 15. She was raised around music: Her sisters play the piano and cello, and her mother volunteers as a pianist.
Sein An won her first international competition in Romania at age 15. She was raised around music: Her sisters play the piano and cello, and her mother volunteers as a pianist.Read moreCHRIS FASCENELLI / Staff Photographer

A violin career that began when she was 3, playing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" at home outside of Seoul, South Korea, has led a Chester County teenager to deliver award-winning classical performances at venues in Florida, California, Ohio, North Carolina - and Romania.

On Sunday, Sein An is set to perform in Bryn Athyn.

An, 17, of West Chester, said her success is the result of early support by her musical family.

"I could actually make people happy by playing that little song," An said. "Without knowing that you can give so much joy to other people, then I wouldn't be here right now, practicing my violin every single day."

In addition to her current work with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and being named to this year's National Youth Orchestra, An is scheduled to be a featured soloist Sunday with the Bryn Athyn Orchestra for its performance of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3.

An immigrant to the United States at the age of 11, the junior at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School has already attended a training camp in Mozart's hometown of Salzburg, Austria, and is slated to study at Carnegie Hall this summer. Then she will prepare to tour China with the National Youth Orchestra.

At 15, An won her first international competition, outperforming 45 other young violinists for the grand prize at the Remember Enescu competition in Sinaia, Romania. A local radio critic wrote that An's "brilliant violin skills, her fiery temperament" won over the judges.

Mark Huxsoll, director of Temple University's music preparatory program, where An trains on Saturdays, said the teenager has a "natural talent" for the instrument that goes beyond technical skill.

"Her depth of musicality has just grown consistently," Huxsoll said. "Almost everybody notices whenever Sein plays."

An was raised in a musical "trio" with her older sister, Serim, 20, at piano and her younger sister, Sejung, 15, on the cello. Her mother, Hye-Weon, volunteers as a pianist on Sundays at Holy Angels Roman Catholic Church, a largely Korean parish in East Oak Lane.

An's parents run a café in Center City and said they were grateful that moving to the United States gave their daughters opportunities to foster their natural talents.

"We hope, as parents, that [Sein] will contribute her talent to other people's world, to the art world," An's father, Ki-Ho, said. "Music is very important to the world."

After emigrating from South Korea, An's family first settled in Wilmington, N.C., where An had to learn English at school while performing with local orchestras. The family moved to the Philadelphia area in 2010.

An, who studies between four and five hours a day, said she hopes to enter a conservatory college and eventually perform full time for a symphony orchestra.

"I can never abandon this lifestyle," she said.

Going National

Here are the local musicians who have been chosen for the 2015 National Youth Orchestra of the United States:

Sein An, violin, West Chester.

Timothy Crouch, viola, Swarthmore.

Neil Goh, violin, North Wales.

Jason Vassiliou, violin, Berwyn.EndText