Winners of the concerto/aria competition will perform with the Hillsdale College Symphony Orchestra.
Courtesy | James Holleman
On Feb. 6, Hillsdale’s annual Concerto/Aria Competition hosted 25 talented students who displayed their mastery of their chosen musical instrument– 16 instrumentalists and nine vocalists.
Professors of Music James Holleman and Melissa Knecht began this competition as a way to display the talents of senior students involved in music on campus and to give them experience playing and singing with a symphony orchestra. The program has since morphed into an audition-style competition open to sophomores and upperclassmen, with the prize being a performance with the Hillsdale College Symphony Orchestra.
This year, four students were selected to perform their pieces with the orchestra at a later date. Violinist Bank Bodorand vocalist Brianna Lachbrecht will be featured in the May 12 orchestra concert. Harpist Magdalena Shaltanis and alto saxophonist Lydia Magyar will perform in the fall.
Bank Bodor, a sophomore studying applied mathematics, has played viola since grade school. This is his first year participating in Hillsdale’s competition, but he previously received an honorable mention in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concerto competition, and participated in Stars of Tomorrow during high school.
“I didn’t enter the competition with the intention to win, and when I do it next year, I will not be doing it for the competition but for the experience,” Bodor said.
He added that he was excited to play “Rhapsody of Folk Songs” by Tibor Serly this spring and to share the rich history of Hungarian folk music in an orchestral setting. Bodor’s motivation for playing the viola is the most rewarding part of his life, all of which is done for God’s glory.
Brianna Lambrecht transferred to Hillsdale her sophomore year. This year marks her second time participating in and winning this competition.
“I went in with no expectations my junior year,” Lambrecht said. “This year, because there are so many other talented students, I wanted to push myself to do something more complicated. It was monumental for me because I overcame both a fear of mine and sickness.”
Prior to the competition, Lambrecht was afraid she would not be able to compete due to a fever and sore throat. The day of, she sang both her pieces with the ambition of a clean performance with no mistakes. Lambrecht was especially concerned for her aria, “Ah! Je veux Vivre,” from “Romeo and Juliet” with its faster tempo.
Magdalena Shaltanis has played harp for more than six years. She became fascinated when her grandmother started playing, inheriting her love of music. Shaltanis’s history includes winning the Dallas Harp Society competition as well as auditioning for the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, though COVID restrictions prevented productive participation.
Shaltanis said that she tried to practice for an hour per day to prepare for the competition.
She anticipates playing Gabriel Pierne’s “Concertstuck, op. 39” this fall because of the rarity of harp concertos and the sheer joy of playing such a challenging piece.
Lydia Magyar started playing alto saxophone in fifth grade. She came to the college as an accomplished saxophonist, having been a part of the North American Saxophone Association and multiple local and state bands. Magyar is a junior who has played with Hillsdale’s jazz band and Jazz combo. This year was her second time participating in the concerto/aria competition. She was enthusiastic to play a classical saxophone concerto because, as she put it,
“Saxophones are often associated with jazz music. I do enjoy jazz music, too, but people tend to be very surprised when they think of saxophones and classical music together.”
“Each artist performed at a high level and represented their studio professors, our music department, and Hillsdale College with excellence and grace,” Holleman said. “I’m looking forward to working with each of the selected students in rehearsals and performance with our orchestra.”
