Coastal Concerts awards music scholarships

Coastal Concerts’ mission is to enrich the community through the presentation of renowned musicians in live concerts, outreach, and educational activities that encompass the traditions and diversity embedded in the evolution of classical music. Integral to this mission are encouragement and support to future generations of performing artists.

To that end, the Coastal Concerts team takes  great pleasure in announcing the winners of its music scholarship awards for the 2021-22 school year. These scholarships are awarded annually to student musicians in middle and high school who reside on Delmarva.

This year, Coastal Concerts awarded a total of $4,000 to eight students.

Maxwell Brown of Wilmington is the winner of Coastal Concerts’ most prestigious honor, the Dorothy and Elizabeth Music Scholarship, funded each year by Pete and Joanne Harrigan. A remarkably virtuosic rising sixth-grader at Wilmington Friends School, he will put his award toward tuition for one of two summer violin institutes where he will have the opportunity to study with violin masters alongside an international group of other very talented musicians. Max is a multi-instrumentalist accomplished in piano, mandolin, guitar and fiddle in addition to the violin, which has been his main focus since he was 3.

He thrilled the judges with his performances of Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole” and Bach’s “Partita No. 2.” Under the tutelage of Shelley Beard Santore, Max has been a participant of the the Suzuki Academy for eight years and has received recognition in numerous competitions.

Annabelle Wei is a rising seventh-grader at the Sanford School in Hockessin. Studying with Laura Bossert, she is an extraordinarily talented young violinist who made her solo recital debut at age 10. Annabelle is also a composer who has won top prizes in the Oscar Riding (Slovenia) and Vivace international competitions. She plans to use her scholarship award to help pay for the Ithaca Preludio Violin Program, an advanced program that accepts only 12 students from across the country.

Having won a Coastal Concerts scholarship two years ago, Gabriela Salvador-Riera of Wilmington is a recipient again this year. She is entering 11th grade at Cab Calloway School of the Arts and studies privately with Julianne Murphy Ruiz. In addition to being an exemplary violinist, Gabriela is a charming and articulate music advocate. The judges who got to meet her in person were very impressed with her maturity as well as her talent and musicianship. Gabriela intends to use her prize money to defray the cost of summer training for a multi-week festival.

Andrés Ramos recently completed eighth grade at the Sanford School. He delighted the Coastal Concerts judges with his knowledge of and facility on the harp. He studies with Eunice Kim, under whom he has garnered many awards and commendations. Andrés also enjoys entertaining nursing home communities in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Andrés will attend Archmere Academy for high school this fall and intends to donate his scholarship award money to Archmere’s Helena Raskob Music Institute to assist fellow students in financial need.

Mackenzie Vitolo of Milton recently graduated from Cape Henlopen High School where she was a premier student in the music program. Vitolo played clarinet in the wind bands and saxophone in the jazz band, sang in the Cape Chorale and was a drum major in the marching band. Her career goal is to become a music teacher, and school band director and conductor. Toward that end, she has already been teaching middle and elementary school music students as part of an internship. Currently studying privately with Cody Leavel, Mackenzie plans to put her scholarship award toward pursuit of a music degree at Towson University, where she will begin her studies this fall.

McKayla Hwang of Wilmington is entering eighth grade at Cab Calloway School of the Arts. McKayla currently studies violin with Jacob S. Colby at the Music School of Delaware, where she is a member of its acclaimed Suzuki Academy. Recently, McKayla won an associate principal second violin seat with the Delaware Youth Symphony in her first year with the ensemble. She’s been accepted to the prestigious Point Counterpoint Chamber Music program in Vermont and was auditioning for the Lucerne Festival Academy this summer. McKayla plans to use her award money to help pay for summer institute studies and to purchase a new bow and a new viola, which she also studies.

Ava Hoang is a rising seventh-grader at Beacon Middle School where she studies flute with Joseph Barbarita and plays in the school band. She also enjoys private instruction with Jody Stein, who said, “The musicality, sensitivity and technical ability Ava displays is years beyond her age.” Ava began playing in Kingston, Pa., her former hometown, in 2016 and lost no time continuing after moving with her family to Lewes in 2019. Ava intends to put her award money toward future lessons and the purchase of a new flute.

Valentina Ramos is a rising ninth-grader at the Sanford School and has been studying with Eunice Kim of the Curtis Institute since she was 9 years old. Standing out among Valentina’s dozens of honors and awards are those arising out of multiple international competitions for piano and harp, some of which resulted in invitations to perform at Carnegie Hall and similar venues around the world. Valentina plans to donate her entire scholarship award to the Nemours Children’s Hospital, where she received critical medical care when she was 8 years old.