TEEN SOLOISTS SAVE BEST FOR PERFORMANCE.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

Like marathon runners, each performer has tapered down hefty practice schedules in preparation for the big performance.

``Unlike other musicians, my instrument is a part of my body,'' said operatic soprano Jessica Tivens, one of four talented teens who will perform at Saturday's Microsoft Discovery Artists Concert at the Civic Arts Plaza. ``I'm like a runner before a race. I'll only rehearse for about 30 minutes and I'll only give 50 percent - in terms of both volume and emotion. I need to save something for the performance.''

Tivens and three other teen soloists will rehearse tonight and perform Saturday evening, backed by a professional symphony orchestra conducted by internationally-acclaimed maestro Boris Brott.

The main event begins in the Probst Theater at 8 p.m. This year's artists include two pianists, a violinist and an operatic soprano.

Tivens, a sophomore at Calabasas High School, will join two pianists: John Huang, a Rio Mesa High School junior; and Nicholas Bridgman, a sophomore at Camarillo High School. Elise Goodman, a violinist and a junior at Thousand Oaks High School, rounds out the program.

For the soloists, the concert is the culmination of a yearlong apprenticeship during which the young musicians honed their skills under Brott's tutelage. Brott has conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Calgary Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Pianist John Huang, 16, said playing for Brott was one of the rewards of winning a spot on Saturday night's program.

``He's wildly enthusiastic about the music,'' said Huang, who has been practicing only the trouble spots in the piece he'll play, Chopin's ``Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise.''

``I don't play it all the way through,'' he said. ``By now it's well learned, so I'll mostly practice the measures or passages that tend to trick the fingers.''

Huang, who expects to study science in college but isn't ready to rule out music as a career, said he loves how the polonaise's early light movements blend into its later, livelier measures.

``The andante is peaceful and lyrical and then it moves into the more robust dance style of the polonaise,'' Huang said.

Like Huang and Tivens, 16-year-old pianist Bridgman has spent the past week practicing the difficult measures in the challenging concerto he'll play Saturday, Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1, Opus 35.

``Playing the concerto all the way through is like an athletic event,'' Bridgman said. ``So you want to give your hands a break.''

Bridgman would like to perform, teach and compose music as a career. He's now rewriting a suite for piano, called Hiking Suite No. 1, a piece that was inspired by hikes he takes with his mother on trails near their home.

``Each movement is inspired by something you might see on a hike,'' he said. ``There's the snake movement and the chaparral movement.''

Goodman, a 15-year-old violinist, only slightly lightened her practice load this week, in part because the Thousand Oaks High School student also had finals.

``I've been practicing a lot and studying a lot,'' she said. ``It's been a hectic week.''

Goodman will play ``Introduction'' and ``Rondo Capriccioso'', a short composition by Camille Saint-Saens.

``It has a Spanish theme and I really love Spanish music,'' Goodman said. ``It's also very melodic and virtuosic.''

Goodman is already well on her way to her chosen career as a soloist. She has performed with the Santa Barbara, Conejo, Pepperdine and Ventura County symphony orchestras.

The evening's program closes with four arias sung by Tivens, who has been saving her voice all week.

``I also save the emotion for the final performance,'' Tivens said. ``You can sing and get all the notes right, but the real challenge is bringing real emotion that makes these unreal operatic stories come alive.''

Tivens said thHe blend of drama, music and singing drew her to opera when she first saw ``Aida'' at age 8.

``I just sat there in amazement, thinking, `Whoa! This is really cool!' The singing, the music, the sets!''

Tivens, who hopes for a career as an operatic soprano, will sing arias from the ``Marriage of Figaro,'' ``Faust,'' ``Don Giovanni,'' and ``the Barber of Seville.''

``I did want to be a diva,'' she said, but then elaborated, ``that is, I'd like diva status, but not diva attitude.''

A ``Meet the Artists'' reception follows the program.

For the second year, Microsoft Corp., the New West Symphony Association and the New West Symphony Education Committee have sponsored the concert. Tickets for the main performance are sold out, but because of demand, $5 tickets to the dress rehearsal Saturday afternoon are now on sale. The dress rehearsal runs from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Call the New West Symphony office at [phone] for more information.

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Photo

Photo: Conductor Boris Brott, center, presents soloists for the Discovery Artists Concert: they areJessica Tivens, left, Nicholas Bridgman, Elise Goodman and John Huang.