Joanna Betz
2001 Young Artist
Competition Winner

Born in Great Falls, Montana, Joanna Betz began studying violin at age three using the Suzuki method.  From age eight to eleven, she studied baroque violin at Colonial Williamsburg with Kevin Bushee where she also played in a variety of ensembles.  A former member of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra and the Bay Youth Symphony, she served as concertmaster of the Christopher Newport University Chamber Orchestra from 1997 to 2001.  In 1995 she won second place in the regional Bland Scholarship Competition, in 1999 performed in the Virginia Symphony’s Masterclass with Rachel Barton, and in 2001 won the Young Artists Performance Competition sponsored by the Norfolk Chamber Consort.  She was a winner of the CNU Concerto Competition in both 1999 and 2000 and has been a recipient of numerous Friends of Music Scholarships including a travel scholarship to Texas in the 2001 where she conducted research on her thesis topic: the life and hymns of Alfred P. Gibbs.  In the summer of 2000 she participated in California Summer Music in Pebble Beach, California and was from 2000 to 2001 the first violinist of the CNU string quartet.  Upon earning her bachelor of music degree in violin performance and music history and literature from CNU in December of 2001, she was honored to have received the President’s Award for Academic Excellence.  She is currently enrolled in a two-year advanced Bible studies program in California while, on her breaks, enjoys playing violin at Colonial Williamsburg and continues taking lessons with her teacher Kirsty Barnett Green.  Her former teachers include Karen Stowe and Leslie Stewart.  In addition to music, Ms. Betz enjoys reading, drawing, gardening, and playing tennis.


 

Veronica Barger
2002 Young Artist
Competition Winner

 


 


Kathleen Winters
2003 Young  Artist
Competition Winner

Kathleen Winters is a junior honor student in the Woodside High School Magnet School for the Performing Arts in Newport News, VA. During the 2001-2002 school year, she was awarded first place in several competitions including Virginia Music Teachers Association Woodwind Competition, Hampton First Presbyterian Young Performing Artist, Peninsula Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, and Williamsburg Wednesday Morning Music Club. Just this month she was the winner of the Norfolk Chamber Consort's Young Artists Competition. Kathleen has been a member of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra since 1999 and has served as principal flute for the past two years. As a freshman, sophomore and junior she won high chairs in the All-City and All-District Symphonic Wind Ensembles and has twice been principal flute of the All-Regional Orchestra. She was a member of the All Virginia Symphonic Wind Ensemble during her freshman and sophomore years and will once again represent District 8 at the All Virginia audition weekend. Last year Kathleen was a participant in the prestigious Governor's School for Visual and Performing Arts and was also invited to Hambledon, England to perform as a soloist in a memorial concert for the September 11th victims. In the spring of 2002 Kathleen was selected by the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University to perform in a masterclass for the internationally renowned flutist, Eugenia Zuckermann. Her flute teachers have been Carolina Cale and, currently, Francile Bilyeu, head of the flute department of Virginia Commonwealth University. Kathleen lives in Newport News with her parents, Glenn and Ruth Winters.