Young Music Talent Scores at Morgan Park Music Festival

The following article was posted by Geoffrey Walter. It was written by Adina Genn.

Morgan Park Summer Music Festival has announced the winners of its Young Performers Talent Competition, held May 18 at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall in Glen Cove. At this competition, 15 vocalists and instrumentalists performed before four judges.

This year’s competition winner is the vocal duet of Alyssa DeGuzman,18 of Roslyn Heights and Deena Hower, 23 of New Hyde Park.  They studied with Ms. Jaisook Jin at Manhasset School of Music.  DeGuzman currently attends Adelphi University where she majors in music vocal performance.  She plans to obtain her Masters in Music Education.  Hower attended Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, and is currently pursuing her Masters at Brooklyn College.

The junior winner is Jasmine Galante, a 13-year-old pianist from Roslyn who is a 7th grader at Roslyn Middle School.  Galante is the winner of the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition and American Protage International Piano and String Competition.

This year’s pop winner is Patrick Wilhelm, 16 of Locust Valley.  Wilhelm attends Locust Valley High School and pursues his music talent at Stella Adler Acting Conservatory.

The competition winners will perform at Morgan Park on Sunday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m.  All are welcome to attend.

Morgan Park Summer Music Festival’s judges this year include Jill Weissman, Fran Howlett, Linda Hochberg and Sally Zweibach for judging the competition this year.  The judges were impressed with the caliber of this year’s participants, according to a press release, which also stated “it was difficult to choose from among so many talented and gifted young people who clearly worked very hard to prepare for this audition.”

In addition to thanking the judges, festival organized also expressed gratitude to Stacey Sunshine for “her many years organizing the competition,” and St. Patrick’s Church for providing a venue for the auditions.

Morgan Park Summer Music Festival is a not-for-profit organization, administered by an all-volunteer team. No taxpayer money is used or requested for these concerts. The festival’s seasons of professional, family-oriented performances are funded entirely through tax-deductible contributions.