Always a popular event appealing to the area’s musical community, the Club’s Annual Winners’ Recital was held this year at the First United Methodist Church of Naples on Sunday, May 2. Following the recital in which sixteen of the winners performed, $22,000 was awarded to 34 talented area musicians ages 11-18. These young musicians had competed successfully in the Club’s annual competition, chaired by Jan Grundeman and Judy Halpin, held April 17. Assisting with the award presentations was the individual who won the Club’s first scholarship at the age of 17 forty years ago, Anita Boqvist Smith, now actively teaching, singing and accompanying in Boca Raton.

The last award made is always the most coveted. It’s the Club’s Turiel Award, given to a student who best meets a number of criteria, including excellence in performance. This year’s winner, Daniel Rosman, an 18-year-old clarinetist and  senior at Estero High School, secured his win, worth $2,000, by wowing the judges with his performance of the Allegro movement from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major. Grateful for the award that will launch him on to FSU in the fall, where he will major in music education, he says, “From being the drum major of a state finalist high school marching band and a student teacher in jazz and wind ensembles, I’ve discovered that my passion for music is more than the music itself.” To Rosman, life is also about the people one encounters who touch your life and whose lives you influence. “It is my goal to become a music teacher so I can give back the same (or better) experiences that I have been privileged to enjoy.” He credits his clarinet teacher, Paul Votapek, principal clarinetist with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, as being the one person who has influenced him the most.

Rosman lists many years of participation, during which he was 1st chair, with the Estero High School Marching Band, Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble, the Naples Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Tri-State Festival Bands, Florida All State Band, and the Lee County Honor Band. For four years, he has been the 1st place winner in the woodwind division in the Naples Music Club’s Scholarship Competition, and in 2009 he was top winner of the Naples Philharmonic Concerto Competition.  Playing tenor saxophone as well as clarinet, he also has the distinction of receiving his high school’s Top of the Class and Student Choice awards for wind ensemble.  Besides those organizations connected with music, he belongs to the National Honor Society, Knowledge Master Open, Estero High School Academic Team, and Teen Trendsetters.

Thinking ahead beyond college Rosman would also consider a short career in the U.S. Marine or Air Force Band, where travel is a side benefit of the music. In his immediate future, Daniel Rosman has received a full scholarship to FSU’s Summer Music Camp’s Honors Chamber Winds Program. Armed with his music, his credentials, his scholarship awards, and his desire to share the music experience with others, Daniel Rosman seems more than ready to take up the challenge of fulfilling his goals.

The 2010 Scholarship Winners of the Naples Music Club 40^th Anniversary Competition

Turiel Award Winner: Daniel Rosman, clarinet, $2000

Junior Strings

1st place: Natalie Peliska, violin, $500

2nd place: Noelle Torres, violin, $400

3rd place: Lucca G. Delcompare, violin, $300

4th place: Tarik Machado Marque, cello, $150

5th place: Laura Mattson, violin, $75

Junior Woodwinds

1st place: Jeremy Brachle, clarinet, $500

2nd place: Christine Eugenides, flute, $400

3rd place Timothy Kane, alto saxophone, $300

Junior Piano (Junior Piano Awards given in memory of Margaret Haegg)

1st place: Bennett Lanni, $500

2nd place: Colleen Kilpatrick, $400

3rd place: Ilana Goldstein, $300

4th place: Andre Lorenz T. Chu, $150

5th place: Hannah Feng, $75

Haegg Continuing Education Award

Nerline Nerlien, one year clarinet lessons

Senior Strings

1st place: Bert G. Phillips Award by Classic Chamber Concerts, Jared Blajian, $1,000

1st place: Clifford R. Saby Award: McClaran Hayes, violin, $1,000

2nd place: Nathaniel Cornell, violin, $750

2nd place: Joseph Peliska, $750

3rd place: Hao-ting Wu, violin, $400

Senior Woodwinds

1st place: Clifford R. Saby Award, Daniel Rosman, clarinet, $1,000

2nd place: Catherine Schramm, clarinet, $750

3rd place: Cobby Brzeski, flute, $400

3rd place: Katherine Nunner, flute, $400

Senior Piano

1st place Phyllis S. Warren Piano Award: Joseph F. Lang, Jr., $1,000

2nd place: Christian M. Stahlman, $750

3rd place: Julian Gonzalez, $400

Voice

1st place: Tom and Sandi Moran Award, Elizabeth Drugan, $1,000

2nd place: Naples Opera Society Encouragement Award, Johanne Nordilus, $750

3rd place: Naples Opera Society Encouragement Award, Nadia Marshall, $400

Senior Brass

1st place: Jon Coulter, French horn, $1,000

2nd place: Phillip Brindise, French horn, $750

Senior Percussion

1st place: Christian Ostaloza, marimba, $500

2nd place: Rafael A. Rivas, marimba, $750

3rd place: Richard Stein, timpani and marimba, $400

2010 Scholarship Winners’ Program
Winners’ Recital Photo Gallery by Ivan Seligman

This concert will be recorded as one of the most outstanding events ever presented by the Naples Music Club! Our grateful thanks to the nine fine musicians who generously contributed their talents and to The North Naples Methodist Church for making this event part of their own concert series as well as ours. The audience of close to 500 was extremely generous, and the resulting free will donations received will go directly to the Naples Music Club Scholarship Fund.

Our stars of the evening were two harpists and seven flutists. The harpists were renowned principal harpist of the Naples Philharmonic Dickie Fleischer and Janelle House, an inspirational young harpist who won the Naples Music Club’s top award as a graduating high school senior in 2001. The seven professional and amateur flutists who performed are members of “Flute Cocktail,” an acclaimed ensemble, directed by Wendy Willis, that performs frequently in the Naples area.

Beforehand, the Naples Daily News provided a feature story entitled “Fresh Flute Cocktail: All cherries and no pits,” and Naples Florida Weekly published “Harp, flute music will fill church,” based on an interview with Janelle House.

A passion for singing and dancing to the favorite children’s French folk song “Au Clair de la Lune” at the age of 5 culminated 12 years later in Barron Collier’s senior Laura Chami winning the top Naples Music Club prize.

With a beautiful performance of Offenbach’s “Elle a fui, la tourterelle,” Laura, a soprano, sealed her win in a recital hosted by the Naples Music Club at Golden Gate High School May 3, at which $16,750 was awarded to twenty-five outstanding young area music students. Her winning the Club’s prestigious Turiel Award brings with it a scholarship in the amount of $2,000.

For Laura, musical talent runs in the family, she says, except for her father, who cannot carry a tune. “My brother plays the trumpet and my sister, violin, while my mother critiques us all with her perfect pitch and my father racks melodic havoc,” she says with affection. She adds that she has her parents to thank for their support and for helping her recognize that music for her is more than just a part of life. It’s a passion, a calling. She’ll continue pursuing her musical goals in August when she attends Florida State University majoring in music therapy and minoring in vocal performance.

Laura is currently taking voice lessons with Charles Smith, studies piano with John Davis, and plays the alto saxophone. In demand both as a vocalist and instrumentalist, she has been a member of the Philharmonic Center for the Arts Select Youth Chorale and their Chamber Choir as well as singing with various high school and countywide choirs. As a saxophonist, she has performed with a number of Barron Collier High School bands, including their honor bands, and with the FGCU Symphony Winds.

A member of the National Honor Society for the past two years, as well as the drama and Internet clubs at Barron Collier, she has also found time to do volunteer work with the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, the Collier County Public Library, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Habitat for Humanity, and Kids Against Hunger.

The Naples Music Club’s Scholarship Program has flourished since 1970, with $395,000 awarded to 604 area music students 11-18. Winnings are used to attend summer music camps, for college expenses or for study with private teachers.

This year, fifty-eight students, representing 16 high schools including those home schooled, competed. The juried competition took place in two age divisions in the categories of piano, string, woodwinds, brass, percussion and voice on April 18 at Barron Collier High School. Top winners who are seniors were then invited to compete for the Turiel award, whose criteria include recital performance, seriousness in pursuing the study of music, competition scores, music achievements, grade point average, community service, an essay, a personal interview and financial need. The 2009 top winners were Laura Chami, soprano; Nancy Flewelling, soprano; Alexander Hayes, euphonium; Emmanuel Lima, trumpet; and Caroline Phillips, saxophone.

In addition, for the first time, a special award, the Haegg Award, was presented. This award is given to one or more especially promising students ages 11-14 who have not studied privately. The 2009 awardees are Nerline Nerlein, a 14-year-old clarinetist, and Shelby Sorrell, a 12-year-old flutist.

The 2009 Scholarship Winners of the Naples Music Club Competition

Turiel Award Winner: Laura Chami, soprano, $2,000
Haegg Award Winners: Nerline Nerlien, clarinet; Shelby Sorrell, flute, $1200 each

Junior Strings
1st place: Jared Blajian, cello, $500
2nd place: Joseph Peliska, guitar, $400
3rd place: McClaran Hayes, violin, $300

Junior Instruments
1st place: Jeremy Brachle (clarinet), $500
2nd place: Nicole Ma (flute), $400

Junior Piano
1st place: Hannah Feng, $500
2nd place: Alexandria Beightol, $400
3rd place: Jennifer Wu, $300

Senior Strings
1st place Clifford R. Saby Award: Nathaniel Cornell, violin, $1,000
2nd place: Adam Pan, violin, $750

Senior Woodwinds
1st place: Clifford R. Saby Award: Daniel Rosman, clarinet, $1,000
2nd place: Nicole Pavlisin, flute, $750
3rd place: Caroline Phillips, alto sax, $400
4th place: Cobby Breszeski, flute, $300

Senior Piano
1st place Phyllis Warren Award: Christian Stahlman, $1,000
2nd place: Julian Gonzalez, $750
3rd place: Kevin Boyd, $400
4th place: Yvonne Jiang, $300

Voice
1st place: Nancy Flewelling, $1,000
2nd place: Shermana Winkler, $750
3rd place: Laura Chami, $400

Senior Brass
1st place Clifford R. Saby Award: Emmanuel Lima, trumpet, $1,000
2nd place: Alexander Hayes, euphonium, $750
3rd place: Philip Brindise, French  horn, $400

Percussion
Special Judges’ Award, Christian Ostaloza, $500

Photo credit: Ivan Seligman, Photographer. Website: http://ivanseligman.smugmug.com

Pictures taken at the Winners’ Recital are available to view, download or purchased here:

http://ivanseligman.smugmug.com/gallery/8186697_sTcCG#534777857_3U2rU

Students in grades K-12 whose teachers are members of the Naples Music Club are eligible to participate in Club-sponsored recitals to be held in November, January and March, according to Student Recital Chairman Jan Grundeman.

This program is being developed to help students build confidence and develop stage presence, to encourage students at an early age to enhance their ability to memorize music for performance, and to provide an opportunity for students to develop their listening skills as they hear other students perform. See Student Recitals for more information and a recital schedule.

It is expected that these student recitals will provide invaluable experience for those planning to compete in the Club’s Scholarship Competition. More information about the Scholarship Competition may be found in the Scholarships section of this Web site.

Those music teachers who are not currently members of the Naples Music Club and would like to join should visit the Membership section of the Web site, where a Membership Application is available for downloading.