Three cheers for Patrick Broder!

From the Sarasota Orchestra:

Each year, up-and-coming young musicians from the region compete in the Edward and Ida Wilkof Young Artists Concerto Competition for the unique opportunity to perform as soloists in a concert with the Sarasota Orchestra.

The tradition continued last Saturday as finalists competed in Holley Hall before judges and the public.

The first place winner was Patrick Broder, bassoon, a junior at Southeast High School who performed Weber’s Andante and Rondo Ungarese, Op. 35. He was awarded $500 and the opportunity to perform as a soloist at the Sarasota Orchestra’s Thrill of a Lifetime concert on February 13 at the Neel Performing Arts Center.

The second place winner Natasha Snyder, an 8th grade violinist who attends Pine View School, performed de Beriot’s Scene de Ballet, Op. 100. She was awarded $350 and will also perform at the February 13 concert.

Broder and Snyder are both members the Sarasota Youth Orchestra, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season.

Four other finalists, Kiley Arbo, violin; Jennifer Bolmer, violin; Reema Khadre, violin; and Nicholas L’Heureux, saxophone, each received $100 prizes.

“Every year we are impressed by the ever-increasing talent of the young musicians involved in this competition,” said RoseAnne McCabe, the Orchestra’s Education director. “It is pleasure to watch them perform and to observe their progress over the years.”

The Edward and Ida Wilkof Young Artists Concerto Competition was established in 1966 through an endowment which was made in an effort to plant seeds in talented youth and to encouraged them to aspire to professional heights.

“We are appreciative of the history and funding of this competition and are honored by the legacy of the Wilkofs,” McCabe said. “I am so pleased that Mrs. Wilkof was able to attend this year’s competition and present the winners with their awards.”

pictured: Ida Wilkof (center) with Young Artists Concerto Competition winners Patrick Broder, bassoon, and Natasha Snyder, violin.