April 28, 2012 |
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For many years, the Stockton Symphony has acquired a solid record of achievement in both musical excellence and community outreach. Two noteworthy educational programs that focus on developing high standards of musicianship for the serious student are:
Established in memory of Manlio Silva, the Stockton Symphony’s founder, this competitive scholarship program awards money for further music study to talented young musicians. Scholarship prizes are awarded to Northern California high school seniors who intend to pursue a major in music at college. Applicants must be able to perform live from memory a complete work or one movement of a multi-movement work before music conductor Peter Jaffe and a panel of adjudicators. Auditions are 15 minutes in length.
The 2010 Manlio Silva Young Artist Scholarship winner is pianist Catherine Fu, 17, who goes to Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon and also studies in the preparatory division of the San Francisco Conservatory with John McCarthy. Catherine auditioned with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G# minor and Liszt’s Rigoletto Paraphrase. Congratulations, Catherine!
The Stockton Symphony has helped bolster the careers of several young musicians through our annual Young Artist Concerto and Manlio Silva Scholarship Competitions. Here’s a look at where they are now. Erin Caves (tenor):1987 Manlio Silva Scholarship Winner American tenor Erin Caves makes his home in Germany. He began his opera career as a baritone, singing such roles as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro, Valentin in Gounod’s Faust, Marcello in Puccini’s Bohème, and Pelléas in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande in Germany. His first tenor roles were Grigory/Dimitri in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Porcus in Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au Boucher at Gelsenkirchen during the 2000/01 season. Since then, his repertoire has expanded to include the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo, Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio, Iago in Rossini’s Otello, the title role of Massenet’s Werther, the title role of Verdi’s Don Carlos, Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco, Narraboth in Richard Strauss’s Salome, the Evangelist Johannes in Schmidt’s Buch mit sieben Siegeln, and Sergei in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. At Nürnberg for the 2007/08 season, Caves appeared as Max in Weber’s Freischütz, Lenski in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and Prince Sou-Chong in Lehár’s Land des Lächelns. In Wagner’s operas, Caves has sung such roles as Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Loge in Das Rheingold, and Siegmund in Die Walküre. Future engagements include Alwa in Berg’s Lulu at Basel and Loge at National Reisopera Nederland. For more information on Mr. Caves, visit his website at: http://www.erincaves.com/ Kristina Cooper (cellist): 1989 Manlio Silva Scholarship Winner Cooper, a classical cellist, is a sometime professor at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music and Dance in New York. There was never really any doubt about what career path Cooper would take. With a violinist mother and pianist father (University of the Pacific’s Rex Cooper) as a young girl she naturally gravitated, or was directed, towards both instruments. It was only when, as a teenager, she opted for the cello that she found her own musical voice and the freedom to embark on her own artistic explorations. "With the cello I knew I wouldn't be told what to do," she recalls. "That was my instrument, not my parents." Cooper has earned impressive credentials since 1989. She has a doctorate in music from Juilliard where she has also taught. She has performed across the globe, from Japan and China to El Salvador, Germany and, of course, throughout the States. She has 15 albums and a clutch of DVDs to her name and has worked extensively in TV and radio, including commercials. Monica (Johnson) Swope (pianist): 1989 Manlio Silva Scholarship Winner Monica is a staff accompanist at the Conservatory of Music and her husband Mark Swope is the choir director at Stagg High School in Stockton, California.
Amy Bouchard (mezzo-soprano): 1995 Manlio Silva Scholarship Winner Amy Bouchard is a native Californian who recently returned to live in her home state. Since moving to the Bay Area, Ms. Bouchard has appeared in leading and supporting roles with West Bay Opera, Pocket Opera, Stockton Opera Association, Townsend Opera Players, and Livermore Valley Opera. A finalist in the St. Paul Schubert Club Competition and the Roy A. Schussler Vocal Competition, she has performed roles including The Woman in Francis Poulenc’s one-woman opera, La Voix Humaine, Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel) and Vera Boronel (The Consul). She was most recently seen as Valencienne in The Merry Widow with West Bay Opera and as Mercedes in Carmen with Livermore Valley Opera. Ms. Bouchard holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree from Vanderbilt University. Janelle Laurenti: 1995 Concerto Competition Winner Ms. Laurenti was cast in the California State University, Stanislaus production of Marriage of Figaro in 2000. Laurenti also took first place in the Metropolitan Opera Pacific Region Auditions in October of 1999. Jennifer Olson: 1995 Concerto Competition Winner Ms. Jennifer Olson is currently the Principal Flutist in Stockton Symphony. Ester Kemalyan-Roche: 1997 Concerto Competition Winner Ms. Ester Kemalyan-Roche is currently Principal Keyboardist for the Stockton Symphony and accompanist for the Stockton Chorale. Robert Scott- 2004 Concerto Competition Winner Robert Scott is a graduate of NYU’s music performance program. Originally from Stockton California, he first came to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall with the Central Valley Youth Symphony in 2000, and 2003. After falling in love with the city on his visits, he decided to attend NYU in 2004, where he has studied with trumpet professors David Krauss, Laurie Frink, and Tom Hoyt. While at school, Mr. Scott has been a regular performer with the NYU Symphony Orchestra, the NYU Wind Ensemble, the NYU Pep Band, the NYU Jazz Rep Band, and many musical theater and opera performances. Outside of school, Mr. Scott has performed for the New York City Opera Society, with the Jazz band classic, and with the New York Youth Symphony with whom he has played in Carnegie hall an additional three times. Are you a former winner of the Stockton Symphony Concert Competition or Manlio Silva Scholarship? Let us know what you’re up to by emailing our office mananger, Sally Fitts, admin@stocktonsymphony.org.
