Competing in a field of area high school musicians, two local students were selected by the Rotary Club of Alexandria to compete in the Rotarys 2008 regional music competition to be held at the Homestead Resort on April 5.
Annie Trimber, a flutist and a junior at West Potomac High School, and Albert Yan, a violinist who is a senior at Episcopal High School, excelled in the competition which was judged by Maestro Kim Allen Kluge, Music Director of the Alexandria Symphony, and three area high school music directors.
Yan and Trimber were awarded the Rotary Club of Alexandrias Gold performance awards and the two will now move on to compete in the Regional competition for the $5000 in music scholarships awarded each year by Rotary District 7610.
The local competition was held at the Goodwin House of Alexandria on Feb. 3 before an enthusiastic audience of Goodwin House residents and members of the Rotary Club of Alexandria.
While Trimber and Yan took the top Gold honors, Silver performance awards went to Michael Brandon, a senior jazz saxophone player at T. C. Williams High School, and Jonathan Knox, a vocalist at Mount Vernon High School. Bronze performance awards went to Sasha Denisin, a saxophone player who is a T. C. Williams senior; Anna Kalil, who plays the French Horn and who is also a senior at TC Williams; and Sara Neilson a violin player likewise at T.C. Williams.
Rotary President Jim Aldige praised the truly talented and dedicated young musicians who participated in this competition and thanked Maestro Kluge for taking a leadership role in advancing music education among the young people of Alexandria.
Maestro Kluge, himself a member of Rotary, described the event as another outstanding example of a Rotary program serving both the youth and the seniors in our community in an event which benefits everyone concerned.
Joining Maestro Kluge as judges in the competition were Suzanna Sitomer, the Director of Orchestras at T. C. Williams High School and the Minnie Howard School; Jonathan Jones, the Orchestra Director at the George Washington Middle School in Alexandria; and Thomas Hartman, a distinguished international conductor and musician.