Sunriver Music Festival helps students pursue careers

The Sunriver Music Festival is still two months away but young artists in Central Oregon are already performing.

Every year, the festival awards money to students who want to continue to take private lessons, go to college or attend music camps.

And this year, the festival handed out a record amount.

This week, the festival completed three days of auditions and interviews for the Young Artist Scholarship Awards.

The awards will help students continue playing music, whether it’s on the violin, the piano or another instrument.

“You really take a lot of pride and joy in watching these kids as they pursue their musical endeavors,” said Pam Beezley, the music festival’s executive director. “They are so talented, and it’s amazing the pool of talent we have right here in Central Oregon.”

That talent includes 18-year-old pianist Taylor Gonzales of Bend.

“I play every day, and as much as I could fill in the day,” Gonzales said.

He’s been playing the piano since he was 8 years old.

“It’s my hobby,” Gonzales said. “It’s more than a hobby. It’s spiritual. I just do it.”

And thanks to scholarships, he’ll be doing a lot more of it.

“This most recent award will help pay for college tuition,” Gonzales said. “And I’ll be attending the University of Puget Sound next year.”

It’s his fourth award from the program that’s considered one of the largest for young musical artists in the Northwest.

It started in 1996, and to date, the music festival board has awarded more than $340,000 to more than 120 local students.

Miya Saito-Beckman, 18, is another one of the recipients — in fact, a winner for the seventh time.

“The most recent one will help me attend Whitman College in Walla Walla and help me with tuition and traveling and all of those expenses,” Saito-Beckman said. “And previous awards helped me attend the Britt Institute in Ashland, Oregon for a string quartet academy.”

In the last four years, Saito-Beckman has been teaching dozens of students the violin.

“I love it all,” said Saito-Beckman. “I love sharing my music with people, and I also just love teaching. I love sharing about the violin with the world.”

The scholarships range between $300 to $4,000.

Grants are a small part of how the scholarships are paid for. Ninety percent of the funding comes from individual contributions from the community.

“The Sunriver Music Festival helps us all out and helps Central Oregon students to make that dream a reality,” Gonzales said.

The students will perform this Sunday at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Sunriver.
The concert begins at 7:00 p.m.

Scholarship alumni are asked to come back and perform for the festival. And many of them are either teaching or performing in major orchestras.

To learn more: http://www.sunrivermusic.org/