Music is one of the most influential facets of life. For many people music is something that motivates them every day, and for some music is their motivation every day. Every other year UW dedicates a night to the musical talents of a select group of students.
These students play, sing and now even compose musical pieces to be considered for first place and a check of $1,500 donated from the Jacoby family.
Applications and auditions happened late last semester, allowing any musician who is a full-time student at UW a chance in front of the judges.
“I didn’t really know what it was,” Drew Syring, a soprano from Cody, Wyoming, said about auditioning. But her nerves were calmed when she found out who else was auditioning. “It’s nice to know who you’re competing against.”
Syring has been singing for 13 years and is currently working on getting her degree in American studies with a minor in environmental resources. It is rare in the past for the competition to accept vocalists, so Syring said she feels very honored to be performing.
Several of the competitors have actually worked together before. Rui Gao, a pianist from Shenyang, China is another competitor who worked with Syring as her accompanist last semester for the audition.
“They’re all really talented musicians and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do,” Sean McKay, a trumpeter from Parker, Colorado said in reference to his competition.
There are eight competitors in total, giving about an hour and 10 minutes for the soloists’ performances. The rest of the competitors are Zane Romanek, saxophonist from Douglas, Wyoming, Tyler Treacy, a French hornist from Loveland, Colorado, Aaron Boyer, a trombone player from Roselle, Illinois, Heath Richards, a viola player from Fremont, Nebraska and Rafael Ribeiro, a flutist from Goiǎnia, Brazil.
The competition will also feature its first ever student musical composition. It will be performed by the UW Symphony Orchestra while the judges decide on a winner. The symphony is titled “Cxion” and is composed by Victoria Ramos, a UW student from Los Angeles.
“Most of the things that I’ve written in that piece were inspired by really good friends who are amazing players,” Ramos said.
She has been composing for four years and the Jacoby Competition will be the world premiere of the piece and Ramos hopes that it will be picked up to play elsewhere in the future.
Currently she is in her fifth year at the university and plans on using her music and psychology degrees to do musical therapy. This is the first composition piece since her father passed away last year.
“It is such an honor and I’m so thankful that the judges picked my piece,” Ramos said.
Rafael Ribeiro is a student from Goiǎnia, Brazil and has been playing the flute for 15 years.
“Always when I have a recital or concert I’m really concerned about getting everything right,” Ribeiro said about his feelings on performing at the Jacoby Competition.
If he wins he plans on updating the head joint on his flute. Ribeiro plans on finishing his schooling in the U.S. and then returning to Brazil to teach music.
All of the students involved are incredibly dedicated to their music, most working constantly on perfecting their pieces and techniques.
“She [the professor] picked the piece because Mozart exposes a lot of technical things,” Syring said.
Syring will be singing Mozart’s piece “Porgi Amor.”
“We also picked the piece because of the character work in it,” Syring said.
A couple other pieces that will be featured in the competition are Reinecke’s Flute Concerto and Oboe Concerto by Marcello.
All of the soloists competing are very excited to be performing in the Buchanan Center Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. on March 2. Tickets are available online or at the box office in the Fine Arts building and UW Union.
“I love playing trumpet and it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life,” McKay said
