UW Student Classical Music Jacoby Competition March 6

The worlds of competition and classical music meet head-on as the University of Wyoming’s finest student musicians will be chosen during the UW Symphony Orchestra’s Jacoby Competition at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall.

Tickets are $19 for the public, $15 for senior citizens and $9 for students. A nominal processing fee will be charged for each ticket. To purchase tickets, visit the Performing Arts box office, call (307) 766-6666 or go online at www.tix.com/ticket-sales/uwyo/6984.

“The Jacoby Competition never fails to be one of the UW Symphony Orchestra’s most exciting events,” says UW Department of Music Professor Michael Griffith, who is UW’s orchestral activities director. “What you will hear is actually the finals of a two-stage competition.”

Several months ago, many UW music students performed their selected solos in the audition round. An entire day was devoted to that competition late in the fall semester. A panel of distinguished musicians served as judges and chose the seven top students to perform in the finals concert.

Another set of judges will be at the performance and will decide the best two performances of the evening, Griffith says. The winners will receive significant cash awards.

“You will hear our best and also experience the breadth of our program,” Griffith says. “The competition will have a varied program.”

This year’s soloists, listed by hometowns and their repertoire, are:

-- Casper: Bryce Hebert, alto saxophone, Maurice, “Tableau de Provence.”

-- Cheyenne: Jacob Walker, alto saxophone, Creston, concerto.

-- Douglas: Jeffrey Cuevas, baritone, Rossini, “Largo al Factotum” from “The Barber of Seville.”

-- Grapevine, Texas: Emilee Ewing, flute, Gordeli, concerto.

-- Junqueirópolis, São Paulo, Brazil: Marlon Rissatto, trombone, Grøndahl, concerto.

-- Morristown, N.J.: Ryan Larsen, alto saxophone, Dubois, concerto.

-- Orlando, Fla.: Michael Vitanza, violin, Sarasate, “Zigeunerweisen.”

After the concert, Adrienne Freng, UW College of Arts and Sciences interim dean, will announce the judges’ decision.

The concert is named after Dorothy Jacoby, a founding member of the local Symphony Association and a longtime supporter of classical music in Laramie. After her death, her sons, Peter and Michael Jacoby, made a generous contribution in honor of their mother. That gift, along with contributions from many of Dorothy Jacoby’s friends, created the endowment that funds the competition’s prize.

For more information, email Griffith at symph@uwyo.edu.

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