MAMA-Winning Student Places in MSO Forte Competition
Pianist Joel Weng, who was honored at the 2008 Madison Area Music Awards as the Student of the Year, won Honorable Mention at the recent Final Forte competition. The Final Forte is a highly regarded statewide competition for Wisconsin’s young musicians to perform with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Three rounds of competition result in two soloists being featured at the MSO’s Spring Young People’s Concert. The final round of competition is broadcast to audiences statewide as part of the “Final Forte” collaboration with Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio. In addition to the opportunity to perform with the MSO at the Spring Young People’s Concert, the two top winners receive a $1,000 scholarship; either the Marian Bolz Prize or the Steenbock Youth Music Award. The Honorable Mention winners receive scholarships of $500.
This year’s finals were held on January 12th at the Overture Center. Weng, a Freshman at West High, performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” but is also known to dabble in composition. Marimba player Greg Riss received the Marian Bolz Award, violinist Alice Huang received the Steenbock Youth Music Award Weng and violinist Leah Latorraca received Honorable Mentions.
Read more about the performance and the program here: http://www.madisonsymphony.org/bolz
