Shoshana and Joseph Spiro, and Mason Lubert (in picture) participated in the Vienna Lions Club competition and are mentioned in the article below.  Patricia Nguyen also performed at the Vienna Lions Club competition although she was not mentioned in the article.  Additionally, Ben Gorvine participated in the Fairfax Lions Club competition.  Please see article below.

 

	By JENNIFER LESINSKI The Connection March 7 - 13, 2001 (reproduced with permission) LATIN INFUSED: Mason Lubert, 11, from Lousie Archer Elementary School, performs "Flamenco," by James Bastien on the piano during the scholarship competition hosted by the Vienna (Host) Lions Club

The Connection March 7 - 13, 2001

(reproduced with permission)

Mari Oikawa, 16, quietly took the stage and waited for her accompanist, Donna Grant Sprudzs, to take her seat at the piano. The Reston teen-ager introduced her piece, "Caro Mio Ben," by Giordani and before beginning, slipped in an apology noting she is getting over a cold but will try the song anyway.

Even though she was still recovering from her illness, Mari's performance was powerful enough to finish first in a field of six vocalists during the Vienna (Host) Lions Club's 39th annual James A. Bland Music Scholarship competition on Saturday. Mari's next stop, along with top-place instrumentalist Stephen Arico, 17, from Fairfax, will be the regional competition in route to the state finals and a chance at a $2,000 scholarship from the Virginia Lions organization.

The pair received $50 from the local chapter. Rebecca Coggin, 17, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and James Chou, 17, from Annadale High School, the second-place finishers in the vocal and instrumental categories respectively, received $35 checks.

"We have eight different towns and 12 different schools represented," said Jack Dovel, the Bland Contest chairman for the Vienna (Host) Lions. "We welcome people from our general area because we sell Christmas trees in December and that's open to all who come to the lot. We open the contest to any area we get checks from at Christmas time."

A majority of the 13 contestants, ranging in age from 10 to 17 years old, lived or attended school in the Vienna area, but Reston, Herndon, Great Falls, McLean and Alexandria were also represented. The competition is open to any child in a Virginia public or private school, as well as students who are home schooled, in elementary- to high-school-grade levels.

Gaining Experience

"At first I was really scared and shaking. Then I settled down and just played the piano," said Shoshana Spiro, 10, from Vienna. "My goal was to get through the piece and I did the best I could. And to try to get a prize of some sort."

Shoshana, a veteran of Festival — a required piano competition — and various recitals, performed "El Toreador," by Melody Bober at her first Lions contest. Her brother, Joseph Spiro, 14, also competed on the piano with "The Mysterious Private Eye," by Kevin Costley.

"It's hard playing on a strange piano. The one I practice on is old and a bit beat up. This was a nice piano," Joseph said.

The brother and sister team finished out of the top two, but everyone who performed was judged by experts in their field and received the judge's notes on their performance as well as a certificate. All were also treated to pizza and sodas afterwards.

Typically, the club's winners are high-school-aged performers, but Dovel said last year the organization sent a seventh-grader to the regionals. Past Vienna club winners have included first- and second-place winners at the state level who have gone on to perform at the Kennedy Center and in New York.

"This is a culturally rich area," Dovel said. "I enjoy being here because I don't belong here. I don't have a musical bone in my body."

A Few Firsts

For the first time in 20 years, a contestant sang a cappella. Amanda Liu, 11, from Vienna, took her place center stage and belted out "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" without any accompaniment. It was also the first year no one played the violin in the contest.

As a matter of fact, of the seven instrumentalists, all except one — Abigail Bellows — played the piano. Abigail, 16, a student at James Madison High School, performed "All 'Antica," by A. Goeyens on the euphonium. She was however, disqualified from the judging because she failed to play the piece from memory, as the rules require.

Vocalists and instrumentalists must provide two copies of their music and perform from memory to qualify for a prize. They have up to seven minutes for their performance. The contest is professionally judged by two vocal judges and two instrumental judges.

"We always get qualified music judges," Dovel said. "They have the unenviable task of sorting out who wins. We hunt aggressively, looking for qualified judges."

Mari and Stephen compete next at the regional level March 20 at Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church. The top finishers go on to the district competition in April, followed by the state finals in Roanoke soon after.

The scholarship is named after James Bland, who composed more than 600 songs including "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," the former state song. He is also credited with adding the fifth string to the banjo.