Young Musicians Will Take Center Stage

Young Musicians Will Take Center Stage

By Leonard Shapiro

It’s always one of the most highly-anticipated and popular events on the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra’s (PSO) concert calendar, and the upcoming annual Young Artists Competition definitely lives up to its advance billing every year.

Scheduled on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. at the Michael A. Hughes Center for the Arts located at Highland School in Warrenton, the 2022 event also will feature a full orchestra performance of the Prokofiev masterpiece, Peter and the Wolf, with founding Emeritus Conductor Michael A. Hughes narrating this timeless fairytale.

The concert also includes appearances by three highly talented area musicians who are finalists in the Young Artists Competition for the renowned PSO, which is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

The finalists were selected by a panel of judges from dozens of entries submitted by up-and-coming young musicians from 11 Virginia counties. Another judging panel at Highland will determine first, second and third place scholarships, and all three finalists and many others who entered clearly have promising musical futures.

The Feb. 13 event also will include a Visual Art Contest, with the artwork of students from across the area set to the music of Peter and the Wolf.

And this year, there’s an intriguing new element— the PSO Young Composer Showcase that features the work of Marcus Edvardsson. He lives in Nashville and composed a piece that will be premiered and performed by the PSO.

Violinist Noelle Fiegl was runner-up in the 2021 Piedmont Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition.

They will play the “Winter” movement of his work called “Requiem.” Marcus has already met with PSO Conductor Glenn Quader, PSO Concertmaster H. Lee Brewster and Matthew Gattuso, the orchestra’s Principal Second Violin, to refine his composition for the Feb. 13 concert.

Marcus came to the attention of the PSO through one of its board members, and Quader, PSO president Kate Garretson and board chairman Ernie Hueter have all enthusiastically embraced the concept of adding a young composer element to the PSO’s mission.

“One of PSO’s core issues is educational outreach,”

Garretson said. “And giving a budding young composer a chance to have his music performed by a national orchestra and to work with our musicians is something we’re very excited about.”

Said Quader, “Our mission is very much wrapped around sharing what we do with as many people as we can. It’s also important that we not only recognize, but also showcase future talent.”

Many young musicians who have participated in past competitions have gone on to careers in music— teaching, performing and now composing.

One of Quader’s favorite success stories involves former Highland student Davóne Tines, a talented violinist who played with the PSO while still in high school. He eventually graduated from Julliard, the iconic performing arts conservatory in New York, where he shifted gears to become a fine opera singer who now tours professionally.

The three 2022 finalists are pianist Sarah Kim, 15, a freshman at Episcopal in Alexandria; pianist Christian Henriksen, 16, who is home-schooled and lives in Fredericksburg, and violinist Noelle Fiegl, 15, who attends the Fredericksburg Area Young Musicians School and lives in Spotsylvania. Noelle earned second place at last year’s PSO Young Artists competition.

“We interact with students, we educate and we inspire,” Hueter said. “To see young people take advantage of their training, it adds so much to their lives as they go on. It’s a tremendous plus. And it’s very satisfying to see the quality of these young performers.”