Orchestra welcomes scholarship recipients to weekly rehearsals

LW ORCHESTRA

Ascholarship fund started by Leisure World Orchestra conductor Linda DeRungs will bring the orchestra’s two youngest musicians to Leisure World for the group’s rehearsals and concerts.

DeRungs’ Upbeat Scholarship, administered through Long Beach City College (LBCC), offers a practicum helping the college’s most talented student musicians gain admission to a fouryear university music program and a possible professional career.

As a former music educator, DeRungs wanted the LBCC scholarship to supplement the students’ learning opportunities in both performance and teaching. In addition to practicing and performing with the Leisure World Orchestra’s experienced musicians, the scholarship recipients are encouraged to prepare and deliver an instructional session to fellow orchestra members.

After the students’ first rehearsal with the Leisure World Orchestra on Jan. 27, DeRungs noted the ensemble was enthused about the students’ participation: “I’m excited for our players to exchange experiences and approaches as they interact with these young people who are just beginning their university training.”

The inaugural Upbeat Scholarship recipients, cellist Iva Calderon and oboist Jonathan Villalta, were nominated for the award by City College orchestra director Roger Przytulski. Calderon, a first-year City College student, started playing the cello when she was 6 years old. Villalta, in his second year at LBCC, began the oboe in seventh grade and participated in four ensembles at Long Beach Polytechnic High School. Both hope to continue their studies at California State University Long Beach’s Cole Conservatory of Music.

The students’ first public appearance with the Leisure World Orchestra will be March 7. During that concert in Clubhouse 2, the orchestra will perform works by George Gershwin, Anton Bruch, Nikoli Rimsky-Korsakov and Georg Philipp Telemann.

—William Thompson