Prepared by LSO Staff

	Pearl Kim Winner The Ashley Hawkins Award for Keyboard/Percussion Performance
Ryan West Honorable Mention The Ashley Hawkins Award  for Keyboard/Precussion Performance
	Brandon Mays Winner The Emily Wentworth Landa Award for Vocal Performance
Lydia Lee Winner The Emily Katherine Smith Award for String Performance
	Leah Bolden Winner The Kathryn Mercer Merrill Award for Wind Instrument Performance

Prepared by LSO Staff

     The Board of Directors of the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra has announced the winners of the 7th annual SCALA competition, held Saturday, February 7, at Callaway Auditorium on the campus of LaGrange College.

     The Ashley Hawkins Award for keyboard and percussion performance went to nine-year-old pianist Pearl Kim of LaGrange. Ms. Kim, who is a student at Franklin Forrest Elementary School, studies piano with Ashley Hawkins. The daughter of Kevin and Rachael Kim, she has taken piano lessons for one year. This prize carries a $300 cash award.

     Honorable mention in keyboard and percussion went to Ryan West, who is a freshman at LaGrange High School and a student of Rick Robertson. Ryan is the son of Kevin and Christine West.

     Winner of the Emily Wentworth Landa Award for vocal performance is baritone Brandon Mays of LaGrange. Brandon, 18, is an eleventh-grade student at LaGrange High School. He currently studies voice with Dr. Toni Anderson. This prize also comes with a $300 cash award.

     The Emily Katherine Smith Award for string performance was won by violinist Lydia Lee. Ms. Lee, 13, is a seventh-grade student at West Side Magnet School. She has played violin for six years. She is the daughter of Bum Chul Lee and Sook Hi Han, and she studies violin with Callie Hammond. A $300 cash award also accompanies this award.

     The Kathryn Mercer Merrill Award for wind instrument performance was awarded to Leah Bolden of LaGrange. Ms. Bolden, 14, is the daughter of Glenda and Ricky Bolden. A freshman at LaGrange High School, Leah has studied flute for almost six years, and her teacher is Sally Traylor. This prize also carries a $300 cash award.

     Judges of the 2009 SCALA competition were mezzo-soprano Anne Duraski, a frequent LaGrange-area performer and Artistic Director of the LaGrange Lyric Theater; Manuel Diaz, recently retired Professor of Music at Columbus State University Schwob School of Music and principal violist with the Columbus, Macon and LaGrange Symphony orchestras; and Betty Ann Diaz, newly retired Professor of Music and former coordinator of the keyboard program at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University.

     This annual competition is open to any student 18 or younger who is a resident of Troup, Chambers, Heard, Harris, or Meriwether County.

     The winners of this year’s SCALA competition will perform together with the LaGrange Symphony’s Lafayette Youth Orchestra at a spring concert on March 23 in Callaway Auditorium, sponsored by the LaGrange Symphony Board of Directors.

     Additional information about the annual SCALA competition is available online at www.lgrangesymphony.org.

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LaGrange Symphony Orchestra
News Release
For Immediate Distribution

Young Musicians to Compete for Symphony Awards

Prepared by LSO Staff

The LaGrange Symphony will hold two music award competitions for young musicians on Saturday, February 7, in Callaway Auditorium. Audience attendance at both competitions is free of charge and open to the public.

From 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. piano players under the age of twenty-six from throughout the southeastern United States will compete before recognized judges for three Young Artists Competition awards. Each performer will audition for twenty minutes, and memorized repertoire for this competition will consist of one movement from a concerto or comparable work and one selection of the contestant’s choice.

In addition to receiving a cash award, the First Place winner will also perform as a featured soloist with the symphony during the next concert season.

The Young Artists Competition, which has been held annually since 1996, attracts highly accomplished young musicians from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Next year’s competition will be limited to voice and wind instruments, and in 2011 string instrument performers will compete.

Judging for the Barbara Malis Award, which is made available through a grant from the LaGrange Woman’s Club, will also be held at this time. This award is limited to contestants who reside in Troup County, and repertoire for this award consists of two selections of the contestant’s choice. The Barbara Malis Award winner will receive a cash prize, perform before the LaGrange Woman’s Club and appear as a soloist at a symphony event in Callaway Auditorium.

From 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, a second competition will be held for young musicians who live within approximately a fifty-mile radius of LaGrange. Known as SCALA (Student Competition Awards in the LaGrange Area) this competition invites students under age nineteen from Troup, Chambers, Heard, Harris and Meriwether Counties to vie for awards in strings, winds, keyboard/percussion and voice. Local judges will award one first place prize in each category, and cash awards will be presented to the winners following their performance in conjunction with the Lafayette Youth Orchestra concert on Monday, March 23, in Callaway Auditorium.

Open seating will be available in Callaway Auditorium for both these competitions, and the public is invited to attend. Auditions will take place from 10:00 a.m. until noon and from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. The SCALA auditions will begin at 4:00 p.m.

For more information about Saturday’s events, please call 706-880-8351 or email asellman@lagrange.edu. Information is also available online at www.lagrangesymphony.org.

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