Dozens try out, but only four are chosen for the annual Hope College Concerto and Aria Competition, a special concert designed to highlight the best in Hope College music.
This year's winners will perform on Friday, Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Pianist Susan Dekam of Caledonia, marimbist Grant Gould of Cass City, soprano Crystal Stabenow of Mount Pleasant, and violinist Paul Jackson of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will be the featured performers. The students will perform their selection accompanied by the college's orchestra, directed by Richard Piippo.
The orchestra will begin the concert with the Overture to Mozart's opera, "Cosi Fan Tutte," followed by Gould, who will play the "Concerto for Marimba and String Orchestra" by Ney Rosauro. The concert will continue with Stabenow singing an aria from Handel's "Messiah."
The orchestra will play Dmitri Kabalevsky's "Colas Breugnon Overture," followed by Jackson, who will perform the "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" by Samuel Barber. The orchestra will then play the Prelude and Siciliana from "Cavalleria Rusticana" by Pietro Mascagni. Dekam will close the program performing the "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra" by Robert Schumann.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located on College Avenue at 12th Street.