Youth Composition Competition - Bio of 2016 Winner
Elise Arancio, No Stranger to Composition Competitions
Just turning 16, Elise Arancio is our 1st place Senior Composition Winner for the Violettes 3rd Annual Youth Composition Competition. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person to present the $800 check donated by the West Knoxville Kiwanis Club. She enthusiastically agreed to be one of our volunteer judges for the junior student composition entries next year.Incredibly, she wrote her winning entry piece in one month! What a gift she has.
Elise is a sophomore at Lakeside High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and has been studying composition with Dr. Richard Prior for four years. She is a violist and actively participates in Emory University pre-college programs such as the youth orchestra and chamber program. Elise also plays the piano, and hopes to establish a career in musical composition and viola.In 2014, Elise was a national semifinalist for the PTA Reflections competition with her string quartet piece “Mechanics”. Her piece for wind ensemble entitled “Sprites and Spirits” earned a merit scholarship to Interlochen Arts Camp, which she attended in the summer of 2015. This summer, she will be attending the Curtis Young Artist Program at Curtis Summerfest for composition. Her recent commissions include a piece for the Emory Junior Chamber Orchestra, as well as a flute duet piece.
Please Remember that purchases of our Whimsical Music Themed Greeting Cards Make Profits for the Youth Competition. The insides are blank. The backs have serious or humorous practice tips. We take requests. Painted in acrylics by Becky, a recently finished request is below with the Practice Tip: Sleep On It. (Anyone who has experienced this knows that if you practice or try to memorize a difficult passage before going to sleep, your brain will work on it overnight.)
