CONCERT 2
Winner 1 - College
TBD
Winner 2 - HighSchool
TBD
Elizabeth A Kelly - Stop, Drop, and Listen
(for Actor, Orchestra, and Audience) 5’
with Kerry and Abby, comedians
1 1 1 1
3 1 1 0
Percussion and Actors
Aristea Mellos - Fountain of Steel (2011) - 8'
for sinfonietta orchestra
Flute doubling piccolo, oboe, clarinet doubling bass clarinet
Bassoon
Horn in F, Trumpet in C, Trombone, Tuba
Percussion 1:
Snare Drum, Temple Blocks (3), Slide Whistle, Suspended Cymbal (medium size), Tom-toms (2), Tambourine, Siren Whistle, Tam-Tam (with a bucket of water), Vibraphone (shared with Perc. 2) and Castanets.
Percussion 2:
Vibraphone, Sizzle Cymbal, Xylophone, Egg Shaker, Crotales
Piano, Harp
Strings - bass with C-extension
Osborne - Smoke, Steel, Stone, Cinder
15 instruments
fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, tpt, tbn, 2 prc, pno, 2 vln, vla, vlc, db
Schickele - Eine Kleine Nichtmusic - 12'
1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 0; Str.
CONCERT 2
Winner 1 - College
TBD
Winner 2 - HighSchool
TBD
Elizabeth A Kelly - Stop, Drop, and Listen
(for Actor, Orchestra, and Audience) 5’
with Kerry and Abby, comedians
1 1 1 1
3 1 1 0
Percussion and Actors
Aristea Mellos - Fountain of Steel (2011) - 8'
for sinfonietta orchestra
Flute doubling piccolo, oboe, clarinet doubling bass clarinet
Bassoon
Horn in F, Trumpet in C, Trombone, Tuba
Percussion 1:
Snare Drum, Temple Blocks (3), Slide Whistle, Suspended Cymbal (medium size), Tom-toms (2), Tambourine, Siren Whistle, Tam-Tam (with a bucket of water), Vibraphone (shared with Perc. 2) and Castanets.
Percussion 2:
Vibraphone, Sizzle Cymbal, Xylophone, Egg Shaker, Crotales
Piano, Harp
Strings - bass with C-extension
Osborne - Smoke, Steel, Stone, Cinder
15 instruments
fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, tpt, tbn, 2 prc, pno, 2 vln, vla, vlc, db
Schickele - Eine Kleine Nichtmusic - 12'
1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 0; Str.
CONCERT 2
Winner 1 - College
TBD
Winner 2 - HighSchool
TBD
Elizabeth A Kelly - Stop, Drop, and Listen
(for Actor, Orchestra, and Audience) 5’
with Kerry and Abby, comedians
1 1 1 1
3 1 1 0
Percussion and Actors
Aristea Mellos - Fountain of Steel (2011) - 8'
for sinfonietta orchestra
Flute doubling piccolo, oboe, clarinet doubling bass clarinet
Bassoon
Horn in F, Trumpet in C, Trombone, Tuba
Percussion 1:
Snare Drum, Temple Blocks (3), Slide Whistle, Suspended Cymbal (medium size), Tom-toms (2), Tambourine, Siren Whistle, Tam-Tam (with a bucket of water), Vibraphone (shared with Perc. 2) and Castanets.
Percussion 2:
Vibraphone, Sizzle Cymbal, Xylophone, Egg Shaker, Crotales
Piano, Harp
Strings - bass with C-extension
Osborne - Smoke, Steel, Stone, Cinder
15 instruments
fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, tpt, tbn, 2 prc, pno, 2 vln, vla, vlc, db
Schickele - Eine Kleine Nichtmusic - 12'
1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 0; Str.
CONCERT 2
Winner 1 - College
TBD
Winner 2 - HighSchool
TBD
Elizabeth A Kelly - Stop, Drop, and Listen
(for Actor, Orchestra, and Audience) 5’
with Kerry and Abby, comedians
1 1 1 1
3 1 1 0
Percussion and Actors
Aristea Mellos - Fountain of Steel (2011) - 8'
for sinfonietta orchestra
Flute doubling piccolo, oboe, clarinet doubling bass clarinet
Bassoon
Horn in F, Trumpet in C, Trombone, Tuba
Percussion 1:
Snare Drum, Temple Blocks (3), Slide Whistle, Suspended Cymbal (medium size), Tom-toms (2), Tambourine, Siren Whistle, Tam-Tam (with a bucket of water), Vibraphone (shared with Perc. 2) and Castanets.
Percussion 2:
Vibraphone, Sizzle Cymbal, Xylophone, Egg Shaker, Crotales
Piano, Harp
Strings - bass with C-extension
Osborne - Smoke, Steel, Stone, Cinder
15 instruments
fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, tpt, tbn, 2 prc, pno, 2 vln, vla, vlc, db
Schickele - Eine Kleine Nichtmusic - 12'
1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 0; Str.
Congratulations to the 2026 winners of Cordancia's
Nico Toscano Young Musician Competition
Aurora Gray
Junior Division Winner
Aurora Gray, a junior at Brighton High School, started playing the violin at age 3. She studied with Kathy Tarantelli until age 11 and currently studies with Shannon Nance, Assistant Concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Aurora joined the Hochstein Philharmonia Orchestra in 6th grade and is now in her 5th year with the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra (HYSO). She has had the privilege to tour Italy and France with the orchestra and is excited for their next tour in 2028. Aurora won the HYSO Concerto Competition and performed the first movement of the Barber Violin Concerto in May of 2026. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to play this piece with orchestra once again. She has participated in several NYSSMA Area All-State Orchestras as well as MCSMA All-County Orchestras.
She will continue studying chamber music this year at the Eastman Community Music School, as a scholarship winner and first violinist of a string quartet. During the summers of 2025 and 2026, Aurora was accepted as one of only twelve students to the nationally competitive Preludio Violin Program, an intensive two-week solo violin training seminar at Ithaca College, studying with Emily Connolly and Kiyoshi Hayashi.
She plans to pursue a degree in Violin Performance. Outside of music, Aurora is a member of the Brighton Cross Country and Track teams. She is the co-leader of Brighton High School’s Harmonies for Healing program which brings music to nursing homes, hospitals and children’s centers throughout the Rochester area. She enjoys traveling, shopping, reading, and hanging out with friends.
Ella Zack
Senior Division Winner
Ella Zack’s violin journey began at the unconscious age of five, although for her first eight years, her "practice routine" consisted entirely of showing up to lessons and hoping for the best. It wasn’t until she realized channeling her energy into music was far more productive than punching her sisters that she truly picked up the instrument. Once she shifted from merely showing up to putting in the work, that once reluctant student fell in love with the instrument, developing a deep passion that reflects her playing today.
Despite the complaints of her neighbors, Ella is an active performer of contemporary music and the winner of the 2026 Mostly Modern Festival Concerto Competition. At the Eastman School of Music, she performs regularly with Musica Nova, frequently collaborating with peers and faculty to premiere new works. Her experience extends to performing alongside the renowned ensemble Alarm Will Sound, as well as playing in masterclasses for distinguished artists such as Stella Chen, Rachel Barton Pine and Peter Salaff. Apart from the modern Era she thinks Bach is pretty cool too.
Ella is currently a sophomore Violin performance major in the studio of David Bowlin. Prior to her time at Eastman, she received foundational training under the guidance of inspiring Buffalo teachers Isabel Ong and Diana Sachs, who all successfully convinced her that practicing is, in fact, necessary.