BYU-I student wins Young Artist Competition

“Who are those two kids?” “Where did you find such talented musicians?” “How did they end up performing here?” These and similar questions were voiced by hundreds of people exiting Jensen Hall after witnessing the Young Artist Competition winners performing as guest artists with the Idaho State Civic Symphony.  The coveted first-place awards from the field of over fifty competitors went to Audrey Grover, a BYU-Idaho student in the Senior Division, and Logan Anderson, a Blackfoot High School student in the Junior Division. Scholarship awards to further their music education were an incentive to compete, but both of them admit that the most exciting incentive was the opportunity to perform their audition pieces with the full symphony at ISU’s Jensen Grand Concert Hall. 

Logan Anderson credits his musically-talented family, both his parents Leon and JeNene Anderson, and his three older brothers, for encouraging and supporting his own studies in music, including vocal study. As a junior he sang with Camerata singers in their performance of Carmina Burana with the Symphony. This year he played Adam in Blackfoot High’s production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. “My three older brothers are all musical,” he says, “and we still enjoy singing together.” Logan also plays violin, piano, saxophone, guitar, and percussion, and has taught after-school classes in brass and percussion at the middle school where his mother, a pianist, teaches music. He says he found teaching enjoyable and hopes to do more of it. 

The trumpet is the latest instrument to pique his interest. He’s been studying it for only six years, but his talent has already brought him acclaim as winner not only of our Idaho-wide Youth Artist Competition, but also as the winner of the International Trumpet Guild Youth Competition in May of 2009, where he competed against dozens of high school students across the country.  His ISCS concert performance of the third movement from Haydn’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in Eb was the icing on the cake--a great finale to the last two years of intense preparation for competitions.

Logan says he got used to intensive study during the past four summers in Tennessee at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, a four-week orchestra camp. Each week the “campers” must play chamber concerts as well as a full orchestral concert. Last season, Logan could be found in the brass section of the Idaho State Civic Symphony, which he said turned out to be one of his favorite activities, not only because he enjoys playing, but also because he found the learning experience under conductor Chung Park to be so valuable. He’s excited about this fall because as a result of all that hard work honing his talent, he’s received a full tuition scholarship from the University of Miami. He’ll be studying trumpet performance and taking additional classes in conducting, composition, recording, and singing as well. 

Audrey Grover, winner of the Senior Division, also grew up surrounded by music in the home of her parents, Randy and Calleen Grover.  She describes her mother as an excellent piano player and has many fond memories of Sunday afternoons spent singing as a family around the piano as her mother played.  But her first introduction to classical vocal music came through her grandparents. Her grandmother was a pianist and a jazz singer who married a classical singer with a beautiful baritone voice. After the marriage, the couple began performing as a duet, grandmother “Oma” accompanying grandfather “Opa” as he sang. The two of them would perform, mostly classical German Lieder, for the family whenever they visited.  Even as a youngster, Audrey found it a wonderful experience which encouraged her to explore her own vocal talent.

At BYU-I, Audrey was featured as the mezzo soloist in Handel’s Messiah in 2007; sang the Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute in 2008; and sang the title role of Dido in Purcell’s Dido alld Aellea in 2009. Her fondest memory, though, is from the time she first began voice instruction at BYU-Idaho and was given the opening aria, “O del mio dolce ardor” from Gluck’s opera Paride ed Elena (Paris and Helen) to study.  After feeling comfortable singing it, she chose to perform the aria for her grandfather on his 90th birthday. He was not only delighted with the musical performance, but told her she was “on the right track” with her music and went so far as to say that he thought she would make a perfect Carmen. When the opportunity arose for her to enter the Young Artist Competition, she decided that the two arias from Carmen were a perfect choice. She describes her winning first place and having the opportunity to sing the arias with the Symphony as a fabulous and memorable event in her life which also brought her the pleasure of honoring her Opa. 

Audrey’s summer was spent performing opera scenes as Amneris in Verdi’s Aida, but she’ll be kept busy this fall with performances and auditions. She’ll perform a Senior Recital prior to graduating from BYU-Idaho this December. Prior to that she’ll audition for the role of Marcelena in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, as well as auditioning for the alto solo in this year’ s performance of the Messiah. On top of that, she’ll be competing in the Met competition this October in Spokane and applying to the University of Indiana, Michigan State, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the University of Houston, and Eastman University for the fall term of 2011. Her plans include graduate school and to keep performing, hoping to someday be seen singing on the stages of the world, doing what she loves.

Until then, local audiences can see her again in April, 2011, in her debut as a professional performing with the Symphony in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung. Audrey says she’s looking forward to her return, stating, “I am honored that you have asked me back; thank you for this opportunity.”

Because of the incredible number of talented Idaho youngsters such as Audrey and Logan who deserve encouragement and support in their musical studies and the outpouring of enthusiastic and encouraging comments from the concert audiences who witnessed them perform, the Idaho State Civic Symphony Association is announcing its plans to reinstate the Competition as a biennial event.  The Competition is open to strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, piano, and voice in both the Junior (13-18 years) and Senior Divisions (19-24).  Winners of each division receive scholarship money to further their music education, but, as our current winners have indicated, the most exciting incentive for the competitors is the knowledge that they will be featured as guest artists with a full symphony orchestra performing in the Jensen Grand Concert Hall of the Stephens Performing Arts Center.