Two students in New Mexico State University’s College of Arts and Sciences will perform as featured soloists with the New Horizons Symphony at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 15, in Atkinson Recital Hall.
Dominic Lowhar, senior music education major, and Nathan Tanner Dossey, a sophomore marketing major and music minor, were selected from 10 instrumentalists to win the 2016 Young Artist Competition, sponsored by the New Horizons Symphony. The students will perform under the direction of Marianna Gabbi, symphony conductor and NMSU professor emeritus of music.
“We are so very grateful for Dr. Marianna Gabbi and the New Horizons Symphony for providing this rewarding experience for the music students at NMSU,” said Christopher Hughes, director of instrumental studies and NMSU associate professor of music. “The young musicians benefit greatly through preparation for the competition itself, and then have the opportunity to watch their peers shine in a performance with a live symphony orchestra.”
This was Dossey’s first experience in a collegiate music competition.
“I had not at all expected to win,” he said. “This was obviously a very pleasant surprise, and I am excited to perform with the New Horizons Symphony.”
Dossey will perform movements one and three of Mayuzumi’s Concertino for Xylophone.
For Lowhar, a flutist, the accomplishment was years in the making.
“I entered the Albuquerque Youth Symphony concerto competition my senior year of high school with the same concerto I am playing on May 15, but the first movement,” Lowhar said. “I didn't win that one, so it felt awesome to contrast that with winning a concerto competition my senior year of college with the same concerto, only a different movement.”
For the May 15 concert, Lowhar will perform the third movement of Mozart’s Concerto in G Major for flute orchestra.
The New Horizons Symphony at NMSU was started in 2003 and provides opportunities for adults to explore their artistic side. The symphony initiated the Young Artist Competition last year.
“This is not an opportunity easy to come by in college,” said Debbie Eckles, chairman of the Young Artist Competition and member of the New Horizons Symphony. “Being accompanied by an entire orchestra is very exciting for the young soloists and raises their performance to new levels.”
For more information on the ensemble, visit http://www.nhsocruces.com/Welcome.html.
Information from NMSU