Warsaw Senior Wins First Young Artists Competition
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Staff Report-
Ben Meulink, the son of Steven and Judie Meulink, and a senior at Warsaw Community High School, was the top winner of the First Annual Young Artist’s Competition Sunday at the Warsaw Performing Arts Center. Meulink, who performed “Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra” by Paul Creston, won a scholarship and the opportunity to solo with the Symphony of the Lakes at the orchestra’s upcoming “Master and His Pupil” concert April 18 at the Rodeheaver Auditorium in Winona Lake. He was one of nine student competitors in Sunday’s event, which was organized and conducted by Symphony of the Lakes administration and players, and was sponsored by Tri Kappa. The second-place winner, who also was awarded a scholarship, was Drew Tomasik, the son of Andy and Wendi Tomasik, and a senior at WCHS. Tomasik, a trumpeter, played “Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto” by Alexander Arutiunian. The bronze winner was David Zoschnick, a sophomore at WCHS, who played the first movement from an oboe concerto by Ralph Vaughn Williams. Zoschnick is the son of Bruce and Deisy Zoschnick, and he also received a scholarship. Additional competitors came from Elkhart Central High School, homeschool, Goshen High School and Penn High School. In addition to the winning performances on marimba, trumpet and oboe, there were also performances on violoncello, violin, viola and harp. Sunday’s program was hosted by symphony committee member Judy Becker, and awards were presented by the chair of the symphony committee, Mike Gavin. Members of the symphony and guidance committee also provided refreshments during intermission, and other services, along with the usher corps from the Wagon Wheel Theatre. Judges in the competition were Mary Jeane Kraft, a local cellist who plays with the Symphony of the Lakes, the Gentle Winds trio, and has been active in the MasterWorks Festival; local band director Martin Becker, a trumpeter who directs the Grace College Community Wind Ensemble and has won the “Indiana Outstanding Bandmasters Award” and was inducted into the Indiana Band Director Hall of Fame in 2010; and Tom Stirling, who plays violin, is the musical director and conductor of the Symphony of the Lakes, and is musical director for Wagon Wheel Theatre. The orchestra’s next performance will be April 18 in the Rodeheaver Auditorium at 8 p.m. For more information, log onto the symphony’s website at http://symphonyofthelakes.com, the symphony’s Facebook page, or contact the ticket office at Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts for tickets and information.
