Julie Sorensen, Artistic Director & Conductor
Page 7
CONGRATULATIONS
Reiko Tachibana, Junior Division Winner
Reiko Tachibana, a sixteen year old junior, currently attends Timberline High School in Boise. Since she was eight years old, she has been passionate about music and has participated in various musical activities. In her freshman year, she lived in California, and went to Orange County School of the Arts. She was also the Assistant Principal Second Violin in the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra. Last year, Reiko won the Meridian Symphony Young Artists Competition, the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, and the Idaho All-State Solo Competition for violin. Reiko’s quartet won first place in the Boise Chamber Music Young Artists String Quartet Competition and second place in the Gresham Arts Festival and Idaho All-State String Quartet Competition. Miss Tachibana was also the Assistant Concertmaster of the Idaho All-State Orchestra. Since the 2017-18 season, she has been the concertmaster of the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
Brandon VanOrden, Senior Division Winner Brandon VanOrden is currently a Senior at Idaho State University, where he is a candidate for the Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance. An Idaho native, Brandon spent his early years in Boise, then moved to Pocatello upon entering middle school, where he joined the band and started playing the clarinet on a whim. Brandon decided he enjoyed the clarinet enough to continue through the music program at Century High School. Ultimately, he decided to audition as a music major at ISU because he wanted to continue the personal improvement that he had started as a high school junior in Marching Band. Since starting college, Brandon has been completely consumed by his musical studies, and they now drive his everyday life; no day passes without serious practice, with his daily goal being to better himself as an overall musician. He has been regularly involved in nearly every instrumental ensemble offered at ISU, including the Idaho State-Civic Symphony, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, Pep Band, Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Clarinet Choir, and other mixed woodwind chamber ensembles. Most recently, Brandon was featured as one of the ISU Symphonic Band Concerto Competition winners, and was awarded a scholarship to attend the prestigious summer clarinet-intensive program, Lift, in Fort Collins, Colorado. He looks forward to performing his Senior recital in December 2018; this will be his third solo recital at ISU. After graduating from ISU in May 2019, Brandon plans on pursuing a Master of Music degree in clarinet performance, and aspires to be a professional musician. He enjoys reading, appreciating art, and playing video games made by smaller Indie developers that show excellence in art and sound design. Aside from orange and black, his favorite color is purple. Brandon currently studies with Dr. Shandra Helman at Idaho State University. He has participated in additional master classes and lessons with Casey Emerson, Dr. Wesley Ferreira, Dr. Kim ColeLuevano, and Dr. Jana Starling.