Six winners of Southern’s annual Concerto Competition were accompanied by the University’s Symphony Orchestra as they performed for a live audience on January 26, 2020. The winners represented Southern and other local schools, as well as Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich.
To compete, student musicians from across the country submitted videos of themselves playing one movement of a concerto. A panel of six judges then invited 14 students to a live audition. From that group, six were selected as winners, who were invited to perform in concert as soloists accompanied by Southern’s full orchestra.
Among the winners was Isabella Showalter, who graduated from Southern in December 2019 with a degree in health science. With a passion for playing violin since middle school, she performed the first movement of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, op. 14, I. Allegro molto moderato. Showalter had auditioned for the previous Concerto Competition but was not selected, so she spent the following 11 months practicing this piece of music for this year’s competition.
“Isabella was a member of the first violin section of the orchestra for four years, and I was thrilled to be able to feature her as a violin soloist,” said Laurie Redmer Cadwallader, orchestra director.
“I had seen people come and win the Concerto Competition, and had admired them since my freshman year,” Showalter said. “In doing this, I really surprised myself by how much I was able to connect with the music under pressure, and I learned a lot about how much it takes to be a solo performer.”
Southern Adventist University | March 2020
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