Family, friends and community members heard the talent from 12 instrumental music students from Malibu High and Malibu Middle schools for the third annual Malibu Optimist Instrumental Music Festival. The event was held on Zoom and in-person on Tuesday, May 24, at Saint Aidan’s Episcopal Church.
The students performed solos on their instruments for first-, second- and third-place awards in four categories: Middle School strings, Middle School winds, High School strings, and High School winds
The program featured four guest soloists representing last year‘s first-place winners: Lulu Goode, eighth-grade flute; Vivian Griffin-Jassby, seventh-grade violin; Tess O’Neill, 12th-grade oboe; and Axel Griswold 11th-grade violin.
Prizes included cash awards and certificates presented to each soloist performing at the festival, out of 19 applicants who submitted videos for the preliminary round.
The judges for the third consecutive year were Dr. Gregory Fried and John McQuilkin, music educator and adjudicator of music festivals throughout the nation.
The Optimist Club of Malibu organizes a range of programs for students to participate in including essay contests, oratorical contests, youth appreciation awards, scholarship programs and more.
“They do so much to support our students and we appreciate the group so much. They model for our students the importance of giving back and of being of service to others,” Malibu High School Principal Patrick Miller said. “We have such talented students, especially in the arts and music which is part of the fabric of Malibu. These musicians work so hard to improve their craft both during the school day and outside of it. They invest hours of practice into becoming better musicians and in turn become better students. Just like our student athletes, these students deserve and thrive in opportunities to perform and compete for public audiences.”
Miller gave gratitude to Bonnie Lockrem and the Optimist Club for providing the students with the forum and platform to participate in and allowing them to show off their talent and hard work.