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COMSO to Announce Youth Concerto Winner at Sunday’s Performance
Finalists in COM’s first Youth Concerto Competition perform as soloists
KENTFIELD, CA—May 11, 2017—This Sunday three talented Marin County students will perform in concert as soloists with the College of Marin Symphony Orchestra (COMSO). The program, titled Dazzling Debuts, features the finalists of COMSO’s first-ever Youth Concerto Competition: cellist Benjamin Wu, tenor Joshua Selig, and violinist Lorenzo Soleri.
Marin County is fortunate to have so many talented music students. As a way to showcase their abilities, COMSO Music Director Jim Stopher organized the competition and was pleased with the number of students that auditioned for a finalist spot in January.
A panel of two judges selected Wu, Selig, and Soleri as finalists. The overall winner of the COMSO Youth Competition will be announced at the conclusion of Sunday’s concert. Earning the top spot carries with it a $500 cash prize.
Wu will perform the first movement of Haydn’s C-major cello concerto, and Soleri the first movement of Barber’s violin concerto; Selig will sing “Dalla sua pace” from Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni. COMSO Music Director Jim Stopher also leads the 60-member orchestra in masterpieces by Copland, Verdi, and Bizet.
For these young soloists, Stopher sees the competition as a great opportunity to work a piece up to a high standard and to display the fruits of their labor in a public performance. For COMSO, accompanying concertos is a particular challenge as it requires extreme sensitivity to balance, ensemble, and tempo.
“Benjamin, Joshua, and Lorenzo all displayed remarkable musicianship, expressivity, and technical ability at their auditions,” Stopher says. “They will absolutely dazzle you at the concert!”
Wu is a freshman at the Branson School, where he runs cross-country and swims, serves as the freshman class president, and is co-founder of the Branson Bull-works Engineering Club. He is principal cellist of the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra and studies with Jill Brindel of the San Francisco Symphony.
Selig is a junior at the Branson School, where he performs chamber music and serves as a tenor soloist. He is an alumnus of the San Francisco Boys Chorus and now studies with Wendy Loder. Selig is also a pianist and composer.
Soleri moved to California from Italy when he was 8, and enjoys playing in the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra. The two-time winner of the Marin Music Chest competition is also fluent in Italian and Korean.
Sunday, May 14, at 3 p.m.
Dazzling Debuts featuring Benjamin Wu, Joshua Selig, and Lorenzo Soleri
Performing Arts Building, James Dunn Theatre
Kentfield Campus
Free admission; donations accepted
About College of Marin
Established in 1926, College of Marin remains committed to educational excellence, providing equitable opportunities, and fostering success in all members of its diverse community. With campuses in Kentfield and Novato, students of all ages have affordable access to an exciting variety of credit and noncredit courses as well as community education classes for lifelong learning. College of Marin is one of 113 public community colleges in California and approximately 13,000 credit, noncredit, and community education students enroll annually.
College of Marin is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 10 Commercial Boulevard, Suite 204, Novato, CA 94949, (415) 506-0234, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education.