Event organizer Garrie Rhodes (far left) presents checks to the competitors (l to r) Lauren Suh, Annie Verkhoczy, Koe Goodsell, and Taj Aliotta
Four talented young musicians treated our members to wonderful performances in the first round of the District 5340 Instrumental Music Competition on February 22, 2024. Taj Aliotta, a senior at San Dieguito Academy, began the competition by playing Cantabile el Presto by George Enescu for flute. Koe Goodsell, a Junior at Canyon Crest Academy, played the Allegro molto appasionato movement from Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, followed by another flutist, Lauren Suh, a junior at Torrey Pines High School, who played Danza de la Mariposa by Valerie Coleman. Annie Verkhoczy, a sophomore at Cathedral Catholic High School, finished the competition with a keyboard piece, Merry Go Round of Life from the Howl’s Moving Castle soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi. The judging panel comprising Janice Kurth, Miles Fleming, and Lowell Gaspar considered the difficulty of the piece as well as the musical interpretation, musical emotion, stage presence and the command of the instrument. All four winners received a check from the Youth Services committee for their participation and the judges chose Lauren Suh to represent our club at the upcoming semifinals in March. Thank you to Garrie Rhodes for organizing our club’s competition. Click HERE from some clips of their performances (unfortunately, Facebook embargoed the video of the meeting).