Five Falcons Travel to Oregon City for Annual Musical Soloists Competition
March 8, 2023
Senior Isabella Simonutti performing “Pur Dicessti O Bocco Bella” by Antonio Lotti before singing “Habanera” by Georges Bizet.
Clackamas Community College welcomed students from across the district to compete in the annual musical soloists competition.
Performing “Orpheus With His Lute” by Arthur Sullivan, freshman Milo Gibson was accompanied on the piano by Choir and Guitar teacher Mr. Otto Wild.
Senior Marieka Kaufman sang “Homeward Bound” by Marta Keen and “Se Tu M’ami” by Paolo Antonio Rolli and Alessandro Parisotto.
Junior Kaden Nguyen accompanied Simonutti on the piano for her two songs.
Moving on to state, junior Sean Snow performed Alexander Gödicke’s “Concerto, Op. 41” on the trumpet, alongside his accompanist Paul Floyd on the piano.
Sophomore Charlie Lewy performed “Ho Capito” by Mozart and “The Vagabond” by Ralph Vaughan Williams in the Baritone category.
On Saturday, March 4, a group of La Salle students brought their vocal and instrumental talents to Clackamas Community College to compete against middle school and high school students in their respective musical categories during the annual district soloists competition for the opportunity to advance to state.
Among the competitors was freshman Milo Gibson, competing in the Alto Voice category, sophomore Charlie Lewy in the Baritone Voice category, junior Sean Snow playing the trumpet, and seniors Isabella Simonutti and Marieka Kaufman in the Mezzo Voice category.
Each student who volunteered to compete had the opportunity to prepare and perform songs of their choice in front of a single judge and a small audience of often parents and other student contestants. In attendance to each La Salle student’s performance was also Choir and Guitar teacher Mr. Otto Wild, who served as a point of support for the performers in helping provide them with the materials, such as sheet music or accompaniment on the piano, that they may have needed.
Overall, Mr. Wild said he was impressed with each of the soloists that performed and that he has “never heard [them] sing or play as good as they did,” he said. “It brings them up to the next level.”
After each performance, students were also given specific feedback from their assigned judge, who offered suggestions for improvement and worked briefly with them one-on-one on particular areas during the short time allotted for each session.
Of the La Salle students that competed, Snow won first place in his category and will be advancing to the state competition.
Correction: March 10, 2023
A previous version of this article stated that the composer of “Habanera” was Carmen Bizet, when it is in fact Georges Bizet.
