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Winners of Saturday's 1998 Grace Community Orchestra Instrumental Solo Competition were announced this week.
Dawn Engler, flutist, is the 1998 winner. Beth Chiarenza, violinist, was the runner-up.
As the winner, Engler will receives $250 and will perform with the Grace Community Orchestra on Feb. 28.
Engler, from Lowell, is a junior music education major at Grace College and is a member of the Grace College Chamber Ensemble and Grace Community Orchestra. She has studied the flute since age 11 and was active in band throughout school.
Chiarenza began studying the violin at age 12 in her hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. She is a student at Indiana University in South Bend and is active in symphonies in Elkhart County, Manchester and southwest Michigan.
Chiarenza receives $100 for her second-place finish.
The competition is open to high school graduates between the ages of 18 and 25 and began in1992. Every other year, the event focuses on vocal talents.
Grace Community Orchestra was established in 1983 and includes musicians from the community, college and nearby professionals who are committed to fostering the arts in the Warsaw area. The orchestra is directed by Ardis Faber, an associated professor at Grace College.
The Feb. 28 concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Rodeheaver Auditorium. The event is titled "The Children's Hour" and is the first children's concert for the orchestra. In addition to the contest winner, the show will feature the Grace Suzuki String Orchestra.
The event is free and open to the public.
