By Staff Writer
The Manhattan Beach Rotary Club put on the Rotary Solo Competition finals, judged by Dr. Gene Moon and Dr. Mitch Fennel, on Jan. 28 in the Costa auditorium.
The 9th and 10th grade musicians performed from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. Lower division string finalists included Salem Spencer-Meade, Denali Xia, Joylynn Lee, Sofia Williams, and the three winners, first-place violinist Noah Weiss, second-place cellist Ty Lockwood, and third-place violinist Mckinley Xia.
“I thought it went really well,” sophomore violinist Spencer-Meade said. “It was a little out of my comfort zone because I’m used to performing with a group, but it was definitely a good experience. I also liked it because I got to look back and see what I could’ve improved on.”
The winds and percussion finalists from the first division included Declan Owen, Colin Mukai, and Abigail Ostrick, as well as first-place tubist Gordon Whitlow, second-place bassoonist Logan Elliott and third place clarinetist Phillip Meyer.
“Preparing for the competition, just like with anything, was hard work but enjoyable,” senior saxophonist Max Simpson said.
The upper division included 11th and 12th grade strings, wind and percussion finalists. String players included Diya Dhawan, Katherine Mueller, Joseph Hiatt, Colin Wyse, Courtney Yu and Mizuki Horiguchi. Wind and percussion players included Anna Chittenden, Dylan Davidoff, Trevor King, Kent Ikuta and Max Simpson.
“I’m incredibly grateful for winning, but I don’t think the results are everything, so my sincere congratulations to everyone who put themselves out there and performed,” senior violin player Mizuki Horiguchi said.
Horiguchi won first place in the upper strings division, violinist Joseph Hiatt earned second place and bassist Colin Wyse won third. Alto saxophonist Max Simpson won first place for the upper wind and percussion division, followed by second-place trumpet player Trevor King and third-place clarinetist Kent Ikuta.
“When I found out that I got first, I was at first shocked that I won, and then a sense of relief and satisfaction came over me,” Simpson said. “I never expected to get first, as I felt that my performance was not a ‘first-place performance.’”
The first-place winners for winds and percussion and strings in each division are scheduled to perform for members of the Rotary Club at the Rotary Awards Breakfast on March 21 at the Westdrift Manhattan Beach Hotel. All award winners will be recognized at the event.
“Hearing the news of getting first and listening back to the recordings of my performance makes me feel more and more content, as I feel a large weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Simpson said.
The preliminary round of the solo competition was judged by Albert Jeung and required all competitors to submit a three-minute video performance of their piece. Thirteen string players and 11 wind and percussion players were selected to perform in the competition’s final round.
“There were moments working on the piece for the past few months where I wanted to be lazy, but I felt that my hard work paid off with the satisfaction of achieving something great,” Simpson said.
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