Rotary Competition features band members Rotary Competition features band members

By Camille Juton
Staff Writer

Members from the Costa wind and string ensembles performed at the Rotary Solo Competition for cash prizes on Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.

The Manhattan Beach Rotary Club hosted the competition, and a representative from the club announced the results following the performances. Senior Jeff Mohan won first-place for the wind upperclassman division, followed by junior Isaac Siegmund-Broka and senior Keira Jett.

Among the winners for the underclassman string division were freshman Leonard Chung, freshman Kirk La, and sophomore Koh Shoda. Junior Eleen Yeh, senior Vincent Liu, and junior Stephanie Spencer were the first, second, and third winners of the upperdivision strings.

As for the winners of the underclassmen winds, freshman Katherine An took first place, followed by sophomore Nicholas Kane and freshman Ryan Cosner. Underclassmen had the opportunity to win $200 as first prize and upperclassmen could win $300.

“I was happy with how I performed in the prelims and finals,” Mohan said. “I won $300, which I’m excited about.”

To be eligible to play at the Rotary Solo Competition, band members from the wind and string ensembles took part in a preliminary try-out. The judges chose about six string players from the lowerclassman division and upperclassman division, and six wind players to participate in the final round.

“In the initial round I was excited about how I performed, and I went into it with no expectations so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I made the final round,” junior Emma Jean Bedford said.

After making it to the final round, competitors were left to practice individually.

“I practiced individually,” junior violinist Yeh said. “I always would make sure to spare some time everyday to prepare my solo for at least 20 minutes.”

Others looked up to professionals to study and really understand the piece they were going to perform at the competition.

“I listened to a professional recording of my piece; music is all about learning from the greats,” Mohan said.

The top three performers at the Rotary Solo Competition received cash prizes. However, some of the competitors were somewhat disappointed with their performances at the competition.

“The final round went okay for me; I wish I did better,” Bedford said. “Regardless, it was a really great experience.”

Overall, everyone played well at the competition, and band is looking forward to competing again next year.

“There were some great performances,” band teacher Joel Carlson said.