The following students advanced as finalists in the Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra's Young Artist Competition after passing a pre-screen audio recorded round:
Level II (Grades 10-12)
Kaitlyn Dotson, Athena Konidaris, Audrey Lawrence & Lawrence Liu
Level I (Grades 9 and below)
Nia Haninton, Kaitlyn Lippman, Anna Qin & AJ Schmidt
The winners have been announced from the audio pre-screen recored round. Finalists had to submit video performances this year for the finals round.
Level I (Grades 9 and below)
1st place
Juliana Matteo, harp (Penn Trafford HS, teacher – Grechen Van Hoesen)
2nd place
Anna Qin, flute (Franklin Regional MS, teacher – Dan Parasky)
Honorable Mention
Nia Hanington, flute (Franklin Regional MS, teacher – Dan Parasky)
AJ Schmidt, flute (Franklin Regional MS, teacher – Dan Parasky)
Level II (Grades 10-12)
1st place
Audrey Lawrence, piccolo (Plum HS, teacher – Dan Parasky)
Tie for 2nd place:
Evelyn Markle, flute (PA Leadership Charter School, teacher – Michele Boulet)
Walter Vinoski, bassoon (Yough SH, teacher – Jason Worzbyt)
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Good luck to the following student that are recording auditions for the National Flute Association's Convention Competitions:
High School Flute Choir
Kaitlyn Dotson, Athena Konidaris, Audrey Lawrence & Lena Voss
High School Soloist
Audrey Lawrence
JR Soloist
Nia Haninton, Anna Qin & AJ Schmidt
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Anna Qin has submitted an audition for the Central Ohio Flute Association's Young Artist Competition.
Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention Audition Results
High School Flute Choir
Audrey Lawrence, Jenna Facer, Athena Konidaris and Elizabeth Zinzell have all been accepted into the ensemble! Lili Jakiela is the first alternate.
Solo Competition
Audrey Lawrence has advanced as one of the three finalists in the High School Division (grades 10-12)
Kaitlyn Lippman has advanced as one of the three finalists in the Elementary Division (grades 6 and under)
Both Audrey and Kaitlyn will have to record a video audition as a final part of this competition in order to determine the rankings of the top 3 finalists. Good Luck!
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Congratulations to Jenna Facer, Audrey Lawrence and Lena Voss for advancing onto the next phase for the PMEA path to Virtual All-States!
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Congratulations to Mia Delissio, Emme Hanington, Anjana Madnava, Kelsey McGee and Alex Schmidt for making it into the Franklin Regional Elementary School Jazz Band!
Jennifer
Athena
Congratulations to Jennifer Wang for committing to St. Francis University in order to begin her studies to become a Physician's Assistant starting in the fall of 2021.
Athena Konidaris has committed to attend Slippery Rock University this fall as a Music Education Major!
AJ Schmidt and Nia Hanington participated in the Trillium Flute Collective JUMPSTART Workshop in November. They enjoyed the experience so much that they are both going to participate in an additional workshop for extended techniques this month. Future workshops for different age groups will be offered this winter and spring from Orchestral Flutists-including Pittsburgh's own, Kelly Zimba. Ms. Zimba is currently the principal flute with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a former flute choir student of Mr. Parasky when he is was assisting with the flute ensembles at the Flute Academy Oakland.
Good Luck to Audrey Lawrence (Plum), Lena Voss (North Allegheny), Jennifer Facer (Shaler) and Lawrence Liu (Fox Chapel) for recording their video auditions for the PMEA Districts to States path this year! The All State Band will be held in a virtual format this year.
Athena Konidaris, Audrey Lawrence, Jenna Facer and Kaitlyn Dotson are recording auditions for the 2021 Slippery Rock University Honors Flute Ensemble!
Athena Konidaris is taking college auditions soon to major in music education as a freshman next fall. Good Luck Athena!
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Anna Qin (8th grade), Nia Hanington (7th grade) and Elsa Bandli (6th grade) earned first chair positions in their respective Franklin Regional Middle School Bands!
AJ Schmidt and Nia Hanington tied for first chair and had to sight read music in order to determine the winner. Congratulations to both of them for participating in that challenge!
Kaitlyn Lippman and Jamie Kociela took their first playing test and got second and third chair respectively for 6th grade band!
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The following students have recorded auditions for the 2021 Mid Atlantic Flute Convention:
Student Honors Competition Candidates
Elementary Division
Elsa Bandli & Kaitlyn Lippman
Junior Division
Anna Qin & AJ Schmidt
Senior Division
Audrey Lawrence & Lawrence Liu
High School Flute Choir Competition Candidates
Jenna Facer, Lili Jakiela, Athena Konidaris, Audrey Lawrence, Kaitlyn Dotson, & Elizabeth Zinzell.
Welcome to the following NEW full time members of the Parasky Flute Studios: Mia Delisso, Emme Hanington, Marilyn Jin, Kelsey McGee & Haylee Phillips! Marilyn and Haylee joined the Studio Flute Orchestra as well.
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Audrey Lawrence is recording an audition for the Florida Flute Association's High School Soloist competition! She is recording the Chaminade Concertino for this audition.
Athena Konidaris is going to apply to the High School Master Class competition being sponsored by the FFA. She is recording Etude Number 4 and Etude Number 5 by Astor Piazzolla.
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Elsa Bandli and Anjana Mandava just got brand new flutes!
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Nia Hanington and AJ Schmidt are playing piccolo for the Franklin Regional Middle School Pep Band.
Recent studio graduate, Mia Heron placed into the Orchestra at Youngstown State University as a freshman music education major!
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2020-2021 Studio Seniors: Jenna Facer (Shaler), Lena Voss (North Allegheny), Audrey Lawrence (Plum), Athena Konidaris (Penn Trafford), Jennifer Wang (Franklin Regional) and Lili Jakiela (Franklin Regional).
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Athena Konidaris is taking college auditions this fall and winter in order to apply to be a Music Education major. Athena recently completed a summer music theory boot camp course as a part of her preparations. She is preparing the CPE Bach Concerto in D minor and the Perilhou Ballade for her flute auditions.
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Audrey Lawrence and Lawrence Liu are entering the New Jersey Flute Society Virtual Soloist Competition. Their applications and recordings are due on September 1. If either is selected to compete, then they will have to present a 10-15 minute program via a recorded video audition.
TRYPO Orchestra
Kaitlyn Dotson
Lawrence Liu
Athena Konidaris
TRYPO Wind Ensemble
Kaitlyn Dotson
Athena Konidaris
Anna Qin
Nia Hanington
AJ Schmidt