Early Fall of 2016, young string players (ages 16-23) from Michigan and Ohio submitted online performance auditions to compete for a spot in the final round of the 2016 MASTA Solo Competition. This is our 19th year sponsoring the MASTA Solo Competition and we are inspired and encouraged by all the excellent young string players in Michigan. We received high levels of performance submissions this year and more applicants than in any single year of the last 10 years.
A prestigious panel of judges selected the top six string players to perform in the final round and a chance at winning the Grand Prize ($1,000), First Prize ($500), and Audience Favorite Award ($100). Prize money was donated by SHAR Music, Baroque Violins and D’Addario Strings.
The Final Round was held at Hillsdale College on Sunday, Nov. 20 followed by a reception which enabled the judges, participants and audience to interact.
The final round participants are pictured below from left to right: Anne Begin, Zachary Brandon, Andrew Plaisier, Zoie Hightower, Sandro Sidamonidze and Joe Skerik.
