Violin - Amelia Sie

AMELIA SIE, age 12, is a 6th Grader in the PRISM Gifted Program at Odle Middle School and is also home-schooled in Bellevue. She is a Year III student at Seattle Conservatory of Music. Amelia began violin at the age of 4 with Katsutoshi Nakamura and joined the Pressley Violin Studio in May, 2005. Amelia was named a Starling Violin Scholar that fall. She made her solo debut with Musician''s Emeritus Symphony Orchestra in 2005. Amelia was a winner of Performance Art Festival of Eastside, Junior division in 2004, 2005 and 2006. She served as Associate Principal Second Violin in the Seattle Youth Symphony Organization's Debut and Junior Symphonies. In 2006 – 2008, Amelia placed in Seattle Music Teacher Association's Simon-Fiset Violin Competition, Elementary Division. In 2007, she was a Play-Off Finalist for Seattle Young Artist Music Festival and a Play-Off Alternate in 2008. Amelia has performed in summer music festivals for the past two years around the world, including the Schlern International Music Festival in Italy and The Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing. In April of this year, she has performed the Finale of the Bruch Violin Concerto in G minor with Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra as a winner of the Young Artist Debut Concerto Competition. In August, she will perform Sarasate's 'Ziguenerweisen' as guest soloist with the Sammamish Symphony. Amelia will be studying violin in an intensive summer program with Jan Marc Sloman in Dallas, Texas. Her favorite subject in school is Language Arts. Her favorite book is The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo. In her spare time, Amelia enjoys reading and walking her dog, Misty.

Past Soloists

Kimberly resides in Seattle and attends Nathan Hale High School as a junior. She began playing the viola seven years ago in elementary school, and continued to play at Eckstein Middle School, where she was first chair. Kimberly currently studies viola with Jim Mihara and plays recreationally in Musicians Emeritus Symphony Orchestra. She intends to continue playing throughout high school and keep performing with groups for the rest of her life. This is Kimberly's first time as a soloist with an orchestra and she has selected the Rachmaninov Vocalise with positive consideration of the piece's rich tones and romantic phrasing.

Simone Porter, 11, began violin studies with Amy Evans in Salt Lake City at the age of three and a half. Upon moving to Seattle in 2002, she promptly joined the Margaret Pressley Violin Studio. Summer musical studies have included attendance at Indiana University's Summer String Academy, the Schlern International Music Festival, with Ms. Pressley, and most recently at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where she studied with Paul Kantor. Simone had her orchestral debut when she was eight, performing Vivaldi's "Spring" Concerto. She has also soloed with the Port Angeles Symphony, the Olympia Symphony, and she had her debut with the Seattle Symphony in October, 2006. This past autumn Simone was a featured performer on the nationally syndicated radio show, From the Top. Simone is a recipient of a Dorothy Richard Starling Scholarship, which includes tuition for violin studies and academic and chamber music classes at the Seattle Conservatory of Music. Currently Simone attends 5th grade at Lowell Elementary School. In addition to playing and listening to music, Simone loves to draw, play with her dog, Olivia, and write stories. On Jan 20th, 2008, Simone performed Khachaturian Violin Concerto with MESO.

Lauren Glass, Reinecke's Flute Concerto. Lauren was a sophomore at Roosevelt High School. She was a member of the Seattle Youth Symphony. Lauren was a concerto finalist in the 2003 and 2007 Seattle Young Artists Music Festival. In 2006, Lauren placed 1st in the lower division of the Horsfall Competition, sponsored by the Seattle Flute Society. Also in 2006, she placed 3rd in the MTNA national junior woodwind competition, having placed 1st at the state and division levels. She was a concerto finalist in the Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She studies with Bonnie Blanchard. In her limited free time she also enjoys running cross country, reading, and cooking.