HIGH NOTES

Young musicians earn plaudits

BY HARRY SCHROEDER

The Music in Paradise operation opened the month of June by putting on its annual concert of young musicians.

The concert, at St. Paul’s Church, was organized by Michael Kilgore and Linda Sparks, who also served as piano accompanist when needed. The judges were Gayla Morgan, Michael Robinson, and Vincent Zito.

The program opened with Jim Carter leading a somewhat hesitant audience in “America the Beautiful,” and then conducting his own prizewinning chorus from Key West High School. That group revealed a variety of musical virtues: An even blend among all the voices, which produced a smooth sound, an easy precision in handling changes in tempos and dynamics, and consistently good intonation even in a capella numbers. The concert itself consisted of 11 numbers.

The award winners, announced by Gayla Morgan, were: in first place Sammy Fuller on drums and marimba; in second, Jordan Cress Morrison on flute; and in third, Jake Graziano and Joshua Morales playing a drum duet.

I was originally selected as one of the judges, and then removed on the grounds that since I was planning to write this review, serving as judge would constitute a conflict of interest. The deliberations would have been interesting. Herewith my own, entirely unofficial, choices:

Third place would be difficult. The percussionists deserve consideration; so do two pianists, Dominick Rojas and Nathan Tuttle, playing, respectively, Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” and Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag.” My vote, though, with perhaps a slight bias toward wind instruments, would be split between Vincent Cheng on trumpet and Amber Hernandez on bass clarinet. Vincent’s playing was strong, with a big sound and no compromises. Amber, on her unwieldy instrument, got a nice open sound, and played expressively over the whole range of the horn, especially in the resonant lower register.

Second place would go to soprano Liza Catana. She sang “Let It Go,” from Disney’s Frozen. Her performance, with a richly expressive voice, a good sense for the lyric, and singing consistently in tune, offered an exemplary combination of passion and technical accuracy.

In first place, by a wide margin, would be Jordan Cress Morrison playing a movement of a Mozart concerto on flute. Her playing was accurate, even in some very fast passages. Her sound was lovely, and it caught Mozart’s sweetness. And she made it all sound easy, with a relaxed lightness, which is essential to Mozart’s music. Hers was the one performance in the concert which approached a professional level.

There were two younger players on the program. Emerson Farris, in the seventh grade, played on piano a piece entitled “Secrets.” It was a fine performance on all counts: a smooth legato, lots of expression, and, best of all, a very good sound coming from his fingertips, which is a crucial test of a young pianist.

Barunka Olsak played two simple pieces on violin: her playing was impressive, given the fact that she is 7 years old. She was in tune a large part of the time, which is a good sign: if a young player’s ear recognizes perfect intonation and can play it at all, time and practice will bring everything up to that standard.

The concert closed with three vigorously played stock jazz numbers by Gary Hernandez’ High School Jazz Ensemble. These were largely given over to opportunities for aspiring young jazz players to try out soloing.

Notable in the concerted sections were a strong lead trumpet and a good rhythm section (where, incidentally, Jordan Cress Morrison moved down several octaves from flute to acoustic bass, where she deserved much of the credit for the band’s rhythmic drive).

This concert is one of the most valuable elements in the excellent support system for young musicians in Key West. It offers them a chance to play or sing, out front, before an enthusiastic audience, music they have selected themselves and carefully prepared. Linda and Michael are to be congratulated, along with all the other participants, performers and judges alike.

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