Winners Selected at January 12th Auditions

(WINSTON-SALEM, NC - January 2002)—The Piedmont Wind Symphony (PWS) is pleased to announce three young women as winners of its first Concerto Competition. The first place prize of $500 goes to Molly Hazelwood from Ledford High School for her performance of Guilmant’s Morceau Symphonique on the euphonium. Ms. Hazelwood will solo in a performance of this piece when she appears with PWS at the March 18^th Winter Concert at 7:30 PM in Brendle Recital Hall at Wake Forest University.

Leah Shaw from Mt. Tabor High School has won the second place prize of $250 with her performance of Mozart’s Concerto in Bb K. 191 on the bassoon. Caitlin Nicholas, also from Mt. Tabor, has taken third place and a $100 prize for performing Concerto by Haydn and Goeyen on the trumpet.

Ms. Hazelwood, a senior in high school with a 4.0 grade point average, has been studying the euphonium for 5½  years, most recently with private teacher Dr. Dennis Askew. When asked about her plans for college, she replied, “I plan to attend a four-year school to obtain a degree in music education and then pursue a master’s degree or higher in music performance.” The recipient of a Superior Rating in Solo and Ensemble for 5 years, she has played first chair in All-District Band and first or second chair in both All-County and All-State Bands. The audition judges commended her for her “superb talent and all-around excellence.” Her parents are Chuck and Suzanne Hazelwood of High Point.

Ms. Shaw is a high-school junior and has been studying the bassoon for four years with Jonathan Julian. Ms. Nicholas, also a junior, has been studying trumpet with Karl Kassner for 4 years.

“We congratulate these three fine young musicians and look forward to watching their progress in the future,” praised Robert Simon, PWS artistic director.

These winners were selected from students who auditioned January 12^th in the categories of brass and woodwind. Auditioning students had been chosen from a larger pool of applicants from Forsyth, Davidson, Guilford, and Stokes counties. Those eligible for the competition included all public school students, ages 14-19, in the above counties plus Davie, Yadkin, and Surry counties. The judges were Fred Bergstone, Robert Listokin, Phillip Dunigan, and Mark Popkin, all current or former faculty members from the North Carolina School of the Arts.

The purpose of the PWS Concerto Competition is to encourage young wind students in their music studies and to recognize the most outstanding among them. Part of PWS’ mission is to focus on music education and the opportunity for musicians of all ages to perform.

Allegacy Federal Credit Union has generously donated $7,500 to PWS to sponsor the Concerto Competition, pledging their support through 2004. Allegacy President Ike Keener explains, “We are committed to area youth. They are our future. By supporting the Concerto Competition we feel we are supporting the educational process. This endeavor is also beneficial to the community and to the families of our own members.”

Tickets for the May 3rd, 2005 concert are $12 each for adults and $8 each for students. For information and ticket purchase, call the Piedmont Wind Symphony at 336/722-9328.

The mission of the Piedmont Wind Symphony is to be nationally recognized for excellence in the performance of symphonic wind music for the entertainment and education of the broadest audience possible while giving an opportunity to musicians of all ages to perform traditional and contemporary music.