Young Austin Artists

Cellist Laura Andrade (Courtesy of Geoffrey Sanders)

• The winners of the first KMFA Young Musicians Competition were announced at a ceremony at McCallum Fine Arts Academy on April 28, and the four first-place students not only collected their honors, they showed how they earned them. Sophomore Danny Chen (violin), Westwood High School; freshman Megan Wei (viola) and sophomore Laura Andrade (cello), both from the Liberal Arts & Sciences Academy/LBJ High School; and junior Trevor Young (bass), McCallum, each took the stage to perform one of the three musical selections that all competitors were required to play for a panel of judges, drawn from Austin's professional classical music community. This year's competition expands on the one that the classical radio station established last year for student violinists at McCallum, allowing students ages 13-17 from schools across Austin to take part, with categories for viola, cello, and bass added to violin. For placing first in their respective areas, each winner receives a high-quality instrument on loan for a year, tickets to the Austin Symphony and Austin Chamber Music Festival, master class scholarships, and instrument repair and gift certificates from area music shops. Second-place winners included St. Stephen's Episcopal School senior Audrey Wozniak (violin), Austin High School senior Cameron Rehberg (viola), McCallum junior Diana Burgess and Westlake High School junior Danielle Suh (cello), and McCallum junior Andrew Rogers (bass). For more information, visit www.kmfa.org.

• Austin High School's Red Dragon Players faced stiff competition in their bid to win back-to-back state championships in the 5A category of the University Interscholastic League State One-Act Play contest May 8 at Bass Concert Hall. Their production of the Craig Lucas comedy Reckless was well-received, but in the end, Keller High School took home the title for its production of Richard III, fueled by a powerful lead performance that earned Bret Finholt the Best Actor award and the Samuel French Award. That's not to say Austin High went home unrecognized: Haleigh Holt was named to the state All-Star Cast for her performance as Rachel and Derek Dorman was named to the state Honorable Mention All-Star Cast for his performance as Lloyd.