Two students attending the Wittenberg University Center for Musical Development (CMD) have been recognized for their outstanding musical abilities.
Josh Cunningham, tenor saxophone, is a Miamisburg High School student who has been selected by Music for All to be a member of the Bands of America (BOA) Honor Band in the 2013 Tournament of Roses® Parade. Eric Barga, bassoon, is a Kenton Ridge High School student who was recently selected by WDPR 88.1 FM, “Voice of the Arts” Classical Public Radio Station, as one of six winners in its annual Young Talent Search Competition.
Selected from hundreds of applicants across the nation, Cunningham is the first musician from Miamisburg High School to ever be selected for membership in this national honor band. A member of the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestra, Cunningham studies bassoon and tenor saxophone with Wittenberg CMD Bassoon Professor Joseph Hesseman.
The BOA Honor Band is a 325-piece national ensemble with winds, percussion and a flag and dance team, and Bands of America is a program of Music for All (MFA), one of the nation’s largest and most influential organizations in support of active music making. Cunningham will spend a week in southern California for rehearsals, performances at the Tournament of Roses Bandfest and Disneyland, special activities and a featured appearance in the 124th Rose Parade®, at 8 a.m. (PST) Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013.
Barga is the first wind musician from his high school ever recognized through the Young Talent Search Competition. The talent search drew from hundreds of high school musicians from around the Miami Valley, Richmond, Ind., and Northern Cincinnati regions. Each student submitted a live recorded performance, which was reviewed by a select musical panel that determined the six best performers.
Barga performed the second movement from Mozart’s “K191 Bassoon Concerto in B flat Major” during a live performance May 13 at Sear’s Hall, University of Dayton.
The principal bassoonist in the Springfield Symphony Youth Orchestra, Barga was recently selected to participate in the Springfield Youth Symphony’s Project Protégé, a program that offers outstanding Youth Symphony musicians the opportunity to perform with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra on select concerts throughout the SSO season. Barga performed “Carmina Burana” with the SSO during their April 2012 concert.
Barga studies bassoon with Wittenberg CMD Bassoon Professor and Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s bassoonist Joseph Hesseman.
