Ms. Ariana Uriz, soprano, was the voice-category recipient. She started the program by singing five arias (please see the attached program and biographies), demonstrating depth of repertoire, technical and musical expertise, and convincing (opera) character portrayal.
Ariana Uriz, soprano:
Handel: Piangerò (from Giulio Cesare)
DeBussy: Romance
Duparc: Chanson triste
Gounod: Jewel Song (from Faust)
Mozart: Come scoglio (from Cosi fan tutte)
Ms. Elaine Fitz Gibbon, 'cellist, was the orchestra instrument-category recipient. She gave a wonderful and emotive performance of Chopin's Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3. We hope her mother, Elaine's accompanist, will consider SSC membership-she's a great pianist! The New England Conservatory of Music will be lucky to have Elaine as a student!
Elaine Fitz Gibbon, 'cello:
Chopin: Polonaise brillante, Op. 3
Ms. Junyao Peng, pianist, was the piano-category recipient and she gave the final performance for the evening. Ms. Peng was amazing! She demonstrated mastery of many technical challenges, an understanding of different musical period nuances, and was able to provide a distinctively personal and appropriate interpretation of these well-known pieces (please see the attached program notes.) Ms. Peng will be attending Stanford University this fall and it is my sincere hope that she will continue to develop her musical talents.
Junyao Peng, piano:
Schubert, trans. Liszt: Gretchen am Spinnrade
Ravel: Ondine (from Gaspard de la Nuit)
Liszt: Transcendental Etude no.5 ("Feux Follets")
Chopin: Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op. 23
These scholarship recipients represent the present-day fruits of our organization and they are very grateful for your contributions to the scholarship fund. We are grateful for their hard work and for their current and future musical endeavors. Thanks also to Robert Seyfried, for doing such a wonderful job of running this year's Stever/Monk scholarship program. And to John Cozza, our fearless leader!
The Sacramento Saturday Club hosts the Bertha Stever/Pascal Monk Memorial Auditions every two years. This scholarship is open to students age 17-26 from Sacramento and adjoining counties. The next competition will be in Spring of 2010. More information on Sacramento Saturday Club Scholarships, including the Annual Scholarships, can be found here.
The auditions for this year's Bertha Stever/Pascal Monk Memorial Scholarship were held April 20, 2008, at CSUS. Congratulations!
The Sacramento Saturday club will be on hiatus during the summer months and will resume meetings in the fall, beginning with the Oktoberfest. See you there!
--- Thank you, Bruce Hubbard!
