Keith Clark conducts the Portland State University Symphony Orchestra in concerts Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 3-5 at the Liberty Theater. Submitted photo.

The Portland State University Symphony Orchestra presents a trio of gala “Bon Voyage” benefit concerts next weekend at the Liberty Theater, just prior to taking off on its debut concert tour of Europe.

Solo violinist Adam LaMotte starts the festivities with a concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 3. La-Motte was recently appointed Concertmaster of the Northwest Sinfonietta in Seattle, and is nationally recognized as both Baroque period instrument specialist and pioneer of new music. He has appeared as soloist with the Virtuosi of New York and as concertmaster and soloist with the Astoria Music Festival Orchestra.

Adam LaMotte solos on violin Thursday, June 3 at the Liberty Theater. Submitted photo.The Symphony stars in an orchestral program at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 4. Included on the program will be music of Leonard Bernstein and Beethoven, and the famous Violin Concerto by American composer Samuel Barber will feature LaMotte as soloist.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, June 5, the performance will blend past and future as Hillsboro prodigies Karsten Gimre, age 11, and his sister, 12-year-old Kerensa Gimre, perform piano works by Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Kar-sten and Kerensa are the children of Jon and Anita Gimre, and grandchildren of Lorraine Gimre and Sirkka Wuori of Astoria and the late Kermit Gimre.

Karsten Gimre, 11Karsten’s program is composed of works he will play in the prestigious Gina Bauchauer International Piano Competition to be held in Salt Lake City in mid-June. In preparation for the competition, Karsten will perform the first movement of the First Beethoven Concerto, P. 15, No. 1 in C Major at the Liberty recital, accompanied by the PSU Symphony Orchestra.

Karsten has studied piano since age 4. At 6, he placed first in the International Young Artists Concert in Washington, D.C., and won the Russian-American Young Virtuosos competition at age 7. He began college last year as the youngest freshman at Pacific University in Forest Grove, majoring in math and earning a 4.0 grade point average. He is an avid Seattle Mariners fan and plays on a junior baseball team.

Kerensa Gimre, 12Kerensa will play the Beethoven Sonata Op. 31, No. 2 between the two sets of solo works Karsten will perform. She was accepted as a student of Herbert Stessin at the Julliard School at age 7 and made her Carnegie Hall debut at 9. She also studies acting and ballet and has appeared in several films and theater productions. Homeschooled like her brother, she has earned straight As for the past two years at Pacific University in math, music theory, astronomy and languages.

The Portland State University Symphony Or-chestra is recognized among the finest university orchestras in the West. From June 13 to 28, it will be featured in festival events in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Concerts include the 175th anniversary celebration of the University of Stuttgart and performances in Schaffhausen and St. Moritz, Switzerland, Salzburg, Austria and Blaubueren, Germany.

Conductor Keith Clark appears regularly with major international orchestras and is active in Hollywood recording studios. He is a founder of the Astoria Music Festival, where in July he will conduct Verdi’s “Falstaff” and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the historic Liberty Theater.

Admission to each event is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets are available at the door. For information, call the Liberty Theater at (503) 325-5922.