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COMMUNITY
GILBERT SUN NEWS | MARCH 6, 2022
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Gilbert student captures audiences with his violin BY DANA TRUMBULL GSN Contributor
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student at Arete Prep in Gilbert will be performing solos with at least two major U.S. orchestras and on a national classical radio broadcast after winning $10,000 in a contest. Jonathan Okseniuk, 15, won first place and $10,000 in the junior division of the annual Sphinx Organization Competition for his performance of Mozart’s Fourth Violin Concerto. Along with the orchestra appearances in Buffalo and Miami, Jonathan will perform on an online radio program run by Over The Top, a Boston non-profit organization that celebrates the stories, talents and character of young classically-trained musicians. Jonathan is no stranger to the competition run by Sphinx, a nonprofit whose programs are aimed at developing and supporting diversity and inclusion in
Jonathan Okseniuk of Mesa is a veteran violinist at age 15: He started playing when he was 3. (Special to GSN) classical music and that reaches more than 100,000 students and artists as well as live and broadcast audiences of more than two million annually. In 2021, Jonathan won second place
performance for his performance in the Sphinx Competition, winning $5,000. Jonathan has studied with Jing Zeng, First Violinist for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, since he was 3, but fell in love with the art well before that, according to his mother, Desiree Okseniuk. She said he was about 19 months old when she and her husband Ed noticed him watching Dutch violinist Andre’ Rieu on television, mesmerized by the music. “His whole world changed,” she recalled. “It was obvious. It was like the light switch flipped on. Back then, we didn’t really have YouTube and all that, so we bought two DVDs. One just happened to be Itzhak Perlman and Jascha Heifetz, and that’s all he wanted to watch.” While other toddlers were watching Spongebob Squarepants, Jonathan was watching Rieu, Perlman and Heifetz. “We were looking for a teacher before he turned 2,” said Desiree. One of the teachers she contacted sug-
gested that they buy a foam violin to start with. They did, “but it came with this big wooden stick for a bow. I always thought he would poke his eye out, but he loved that foam violin,” his mother laughed. When Jonathan was 2 1/2, Desiree took him to an educational outreach program put on by the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra. It was intended for children ages 5-12, but Jonathan’s rapt attention and involvement – and his foam violin – caught the notice of Zeng, who herself began playing at age 4. She agreed to train him. Ed’s father had already bought his grandson his first real violin. Twelve years later, Jonathan’s love for music continues to bloom. He has collected numerous awards and earned the opportunity to perform with several prominent orchestras. Recently, he placed first in a concerto
ping 4:30-7 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Admission is free Friday and Saturday. The third way is to just make a contribution to support its work. It’s work like what volunteers did for Alfred that is partly the focus of the sanctuary, the only 2021 Arizona recipient of Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Across American Foundation award.
“Once this sweet guy made eye contact with us,” a spokesperson said, “we knew we had to bring him back to Friends for Life. We could tell that he wasn’t feeling well and took him to our vet.” He was diagnosed with several maladies, including cataracts. Friends for Life Animal Sanctuary is a registered nonprofit no-kill, volunteer-based organization that rescues strays from streets and desert areas and often provides medical attention like it did for Alfred while caring for the animals as it seeks adoptive families. It recently opened a new 12,000-squarefoot shelter. And all that care doesn’t come for free. Information: 480-497-8296 or email at: info@azfriends.org.
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Gilbert animal sanctuary slates big yard sale GSN NEWS STAFF
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ou probably don’t know Alfred, but the Friends for Life Animal Sanctuary in Gilbert sure does. Since the 8-year-old stray poodle joined the Friends for Life family in mid-November, he has had two surgeries, multiple exams and X-rays, radiographs and medications that ran up a tab of more than $2,700. Because of expenses like that, Friends for Life is holding a fundraising yard sale 7 a.m.-noon Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, at its shelter at 952 W. Melody Ave., Gilbert. Friends for Life hopes people can support its endeavor and save dogs like Alfred in any – or all – of three ways. First, the rescue is looking for dona-
tions of used items for the sale. All donations are tax-deductible and can be dropped off at the rescue at its storage pod. “We will accept anything – yes, even clothing,” it says, adding that kitchen appliances, houseware furniture are also sought. Second, it’s hoping people will come by to shop for what others have donated. For a $5 donation on Thursday, people do some early-bird shop-
Medical care for Alfred the poodle cost the Friends for Life Animal Sanctuary some big bucks and it’s expenses like that that make next weekend’s yard sale important to the nonprofit’s continuing operation. (Friends for Life)
