YOUNG ARTIST COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED

2006 Young Artist Competition Winners Announced

The Hendersonville Symphony is proud to announce the winners of its 2006 Young Artist Competition. This annual competition was held at Blue Ridge Community College on January 29. Each winner will receive a cash award sponsored by SunTrust Bank. The first place winner will perform with the Hendersonville Symphony in a concert on April 29, 2006.

First place this year went to Taya Ricker, a violinist, who has been playing for twelve years and currently studies with Corine Brouwer. Taya is a member of the Carolina Youth Symphony and the Asheville Youth Orchestra.

She is a student at Asheville High School. This summer she plans to attend either Brevard Music Center or Tanglewood. In addition to violin, Taya also plays French horn in the Wind Symphony and melophone in the marching band. Jillionna and Josianne Bailey took second place with their harp/flute duet. Both girls attend Bailey Prep School. Jillionna has been playing harp since age nine and studies with Lelia Lattimore. She plays with the Asheville/Buncombe County Youth Orchestra and the Blue Ridge Orchestra. She has recorded for Kids Time TV on Three Angels Broadcast Network and also plays the hammered dulcimer, guitar and piano.

Josianne started playing flute at age nine and studies with Pam Caldemeyer. A member of the Asheville/Buncombe County Youth Orchestra, she has also recorded music for Kids Time TV. Josianne studies piano and harp and banjo.

The third place winner, Maressa McCall, is a marimba player who is a junior at A.C. Reynolds High School. She has studied clarinet for five and a half years and been an All-County, All-District, and All-State selection. For the past six months, she has focused her studies on percussion and is a 2006 All-district selection on mallet percussion. Currently she studies with Brian Tinkel and Byron Hedgepeth and performs with the ACR Symphonic Winds, the ACR percussion Ensemble, and the UNCA Percussion Ensemble. For the past two summers she has attended Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan and Brevard Music Center.