Merit Music Scholars to Play at Becket Arts Center
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Four music merit scholarship winners from the Berkshire Music School will perform Monday, July 26, at 7:30 p.m. in the Becket Arts Center. The program is free and will be held in the air-conditioned Philip Barber Gallery upstairs gallery.The scholars are:
Alfred Brewer, 16, has been the principal trombonist with the Empire State Youth Orchestra Jazz Ensemble for last two years. He was the only freshman in the All State Jazz Ensemble this last year. In addition to winning scholarships at the school for the last several years, he was the recipient of Berkshire Lyric Young People's Scholarship. He will be a junior at Monument Mountain High School, where he is active in the concert band, pit orchestra, jazz band, and running cross-country. Brewer has performed onstage at the Colonial Theatre with Dave Brubeck in the Pittsfield City Jazz Youth Ensemble and has studied trombone at BMS with David Wampler for four years.
Sarah Dunton, 15, began studying flute with Tari Wheeler Roosa at the school when she was in the first grade. She has attended several Suzuki workshops and institutes throughout the years. She played first flute in the Western Mass Junior High District Band and is in her second year with the school orchestra. Dunton is a freshman in the Honors Program at Miss Hall's School, where she is on a full scholarship. In addition to her musical and scholastic achievements, Sarah is an accomplished artist.
Erik Laurin is entering his senior year in high school and has been playing the double bass for more than three years. He is the principal bassist of the Empire State Youth Orchestra and has participated in NYSSMA and All-County. Laurin has performed at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and Proctor's Theatre. He is currently taking music lessons at the school with Alice Spatz. At Maple Hill School, he plays the bass clarinet in concert band.
Gabriella Rose Makuc, 15, began playing the piano at age 5 with her aunt Anne Marie Enoch, her first teacher. She currently studies with Jean Stackhouse at the Berkshire Music School. She will enter her junior year at Mount Everett Regional High School, where she plays trumpet in the concert band and piano in the jazz band. Last year, she won first place for her age category in the Young Artists Piano Competition at Westfield State College. She has won top places in the school's merit scholarship competition for the past three years. This spring, she won top honors in the Berkshire Lyric Theatre Young Musician's Scholarship Competition. In summer 2009, Makuc was a concerto soloist at the Northampton Community Music Center chamber music camp. This summer she is attending Point Counter Point Chamber Music Camp.
Successive programs in the Marty Lasker Lecture Series will be held Monday evenings during July and August. All programs are free, and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Refreshments are available following each lecture.
