NHS Seniors Wins 1st Place—

Young Artists Musical Showcase

This Weekend

RIDGEFIELD — Geoffrey DiBeneditto, a senior at Newtown High School, has been named a first prize winner in Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra’s Youth Competition. Along with this year’s other four award-winning musicians, Geoffrey will perform his winning clarinet composition for the public this weekend.

The 2nd Annual RSO Young Artists Musical Showcase will be at Ridgefield High School, 700 North Salem Road (Route 116), on Sunday, May 6. The performance will begin at 4 pm and admission is free.

The 17-year-old Sandy Hook resident was selected after performing Weder’s Clarinet Concerto No 1, Movement 1, during competitive auditions on April 28. The competition was open to students in grades 6 to 12 from Ridgefield and surrounding towns who had been nominated by their music teachers. A panel of professional musicians judged the contestants in the categories of strings, brass, piano and winds.

In addition to Geoffrey, this year’s winners also included Fairfield resident Ada Pasternak, Ridgefield resident Wen Fan, Chloe Perret of Katonah, N.Y., and Amanda Lo of Bedford Hills, N.Y.

Rachel Cuffari, a member of RSO’s board of directors and the person responsible for coordinating the event, said she and the judges were pleased with the quality of the participants in this year’s program. “We hope to attract even more students to next year’s competition,” she added.

Board president Sabina Slavin said the organization expects to hold the competition on a regular basis, with the hopes of continuing to reward the young musical talent of northern Fairfield and Westchester counties.