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Young Musicians Featured At Bach Festival Concert
Savannah Bailey Pix
University of the Pacific (UOP) voice major Savannah Bailey will be the Guest Artist at the upcoming Youth Finalists Concert on Sunday, Oct. 9 at the Church of the 49ers in Columbia. Photo Contributed

The Sonora Bach Festival, celebrating its 40th year, presents its Youth Finalists Concert on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 3 p.m.

Featuring local performers under the age of 18, the concert will be held at the Church of the 49ers in Columbia. Tickets are available online at sonorabach.org, or by calling 536-6330. Tickets are also available at the door. More information is available on the Festival webpage and on the Festival’s Facebook page at SonoraBachFestival.

The concert will feature 15 musicians between the ages of 7 and 17: six singers, seven pianists and two violinists. Former Tuolumne county resident and current University of the Pacific (UOP) voice major, Savannah Bailey will be the Guest Artist accompanied by Monica Swope, UOP Accompanist. Students will perform music by composers of the Baroque and Classical Eras including Bach, Johann Christian Bach, Clementi and Scarlatti. Accompanists for some of the soloists will be Gail Johnson and Joy Willow.

Selected in September by audition, all the students were evaluated in their performance and given written comments by the judges for their growth and instruction. The panel of three judges were Kyle Dooley, Music Instructor at Soulsbyville Elementary School; Daryl Hollinger, Adjunct Music Instructor at Columbia College and Ron Randall, conductor of the Sonora Hills Chorus.

“The audition process is meant to be a challenging one for the students,” said concert coordinator and Festival Director Sandra Betti. “By requiring them to audition, we are helping them to confront stage fright and to work toward the goal of perfecting a piece for musical performance. These challenges are both wonderful skills for performing musicians to learn.”

In addition to learning performing skills, the selected students were also given a scholarship to serve as an additional incentive and encouragement in their studies.

 

In keeping with the theme of the festival, students are required to learn music from the 1600s through the 1700s. Music to be performed by the students, in addition to that of J.S. Bach, includes composers Caldara, Scarlatti, Johann Christian Bach, Gluck, Benda, Sarti, Clementi, and Lotti.