The three finalists in the Hays Symphony Orchestra's sixth annual Young Artist Competition starred in Saturday evening's concert at Fort Hays State University's Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center. Their performances proved once again that classical music is alive and well in Kansas.

Conductor Benjamin Morris-Cline and the orchestra began the concert with the overture to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute." The upper strings were a mite thin and skittish, but the familiar overture never loses its appeal.

Nathan Brown, trombone, wisely chose the crisply melodic "Concertino for Trombone and String Orchestra" by Lars-Erik Larsson as his competition solo. The piece is a showcase for his instrument, with rapid cadenzas in the first and third movements, and slow, sustained passages in the second.

Brown, a multi-award winning FHSU senior majoring in trombone performance, music technology and composition, had some minor problems with the third-movement cadenzas and finished second, earning $300 in the competition.

Janie Brokenicky, another multiple award winner, performed next. Brokenicky, a soprano who has performed some light mezzo-soprano roles, is a graduate of KSU now teaching vocal music at Riley County High School. She began with a hauntingly beautiful aria sung in Czech, "Song to the Moon" from Antonin Dvorak's opera "Rusalka."

Her performance was artistically fine, but she lost volume in lower-lying passages. Her choice of a second aria, the "Seguidilla" from Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen," was not as successful, even though she looked and acted the role impeccably.

Her French diction needs improvement, and her voice lacks the dark, mezzo quality associated with Carmen. Still, she sang both arias with conviction, convincing the judges to award her third prize, $200.

Connie Mak, pianist, was the last finalist to perform. Mak, who has performed nationally as a soloist, is an undergraduate student at KU. She won first prize, $500, for a technically perfect performance of the first movement of the "Concerto in A Minor" (opus 16) by Edvard Grieg. She needs to mature, but has the potential to become a major artist. Actually, the same can be said for all three finalists.

Many thanks to the Hays Symphony Orchestra Board and to members of the Hays Symphony Guild for sponsoring the Young Artist Competition and providing other support and scholarships. For additional information about the Guild, please call (785) 625-6301.

* The next event in the HSO series will be a joint concert with the FHSU Singers at 7:30 p.m. April 10 at St. Joseph Catholic Church.

Ruth Firestone is a supporter of music and theater in Hays. rfiresto@fhsu.edu.