Join us each Thursday during Lent at 12:15pm in the Bloom Music Center for our annual series of concerts featuring talented young musicians.

Will MacDonald has been playing violin since he was five. He enjoys all styles of music and plays in three bands around town. He studies violin with Wynne Rife, jazz violin with Nick Coventry and fiddle with Matt Rolland. Will traveled to Washington DC for National History Day to perform fiddle music as the head boatman and great fiddle player on the Lewis and Clark Exhibition. He was a finalist in Tucson Symphony’s Young Artist’s Competition and was Arizona State fiddle champion in his age division many times, as well as runner up in the Overall Division.  He part of TSO's outstanding Young Composers Project, writing two pieces for the symphony and a string quartet.

Join us each Thursday during Lent at 12:15pm in the Bloom Music Center for our annual series of concerts featuring talented young musicians.

A native of China, Shuo Pan is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Arizona with Professor Tannis Gibson. She completed her Bachelors degree in Beijing and also studied piano at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory as a foreign exchange student. Shuo won first prize at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, and in 2017 she received Honorable Mention in the Professional Division of the Debut International Piano Competition. As a result, she received two major solo engagements: a performance at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and another at the historic Ehrbar Concert Hall in Vienna in August. An adventurous traveler and music enthusiast, she believes that life offers endless possibilities and opportunities.

Join us each Thursday during Lent at 12:15pm in the Bloom Music Center for our annual series of concerts featuring talented young musicians.

Sophia Rightmer is a senior at University High School and plays cello in the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra. She has been playing cello for ten years, and currently takes lessons from Tucson Symphony Orchestra cellist Mary Beth Tyndall. Attending Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in 2016, she played in the World Youth Symphony Orchestra. Last summer she attend the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute in Washington DC, and played alongside NSO musicians. She has placed in concerto competitions including the Tucson Civic Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Tucson Philharmonia Young Artist Competition, and Tucson Cello Congress Competition. In May of 2017, Sophia played the Saint Saens Cello Concert with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

Join us each Thursday during Lent at 12:15pm in the Bloom Music Center for our annual series of concerts featuring talented young musicians.

Kathy Acosta Zavala is a classical guitarist whose artistry has delighted audiences around the world. She performed her debut concert in her homeland, Peru, during the VI International Guitar Fest. She spent six months in Spain learning from the living legends of the guitar world. Upon her return from her studies in Spain, she was awarded second place at the “I International Guitar Competition for Latin American Female Guitarists”. Kathy was the first female guitarist to win the Schaeffer Memorial Guitar Competition and was the recipient of   the prestigious Presser Foundation Award and was Sigma Alpha Iota Summer Music Scholarship awardee. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Musicology and Guitar at the University of Arizona.

Join us each Thursday during Lent at 12:15pm in the Bloom Music Center for our annual series of concerts featuring talented young musicians.

Originally from Tucson, Kyle DeGraff grew up in Minnesota in the Twin Cities. He was an apprentice for the Minnesota Opera in high school, and was awarded a position in the USA National Honor Choir. Currently Kyle is an undergraduate at the University of Arizona and studied with Dr. Andrew Stuckey. He has sung several major roles with the UA Opera Theater and was the featured soloist in Stravinsky’s LES NOCHES performed by the University’s Arizona Choir. Kyle has won several notable awards in competitions and was recently a winner of the Concerto Competetion and soloed with the Arizona Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, he has been a staff singer at Saint Philip's.

Join us each Thursday during Lent at 12:15pm in the Bloom Music Center for our annual series of concerts featuring talented young musicians.

A native of China, Xiaodi Xu is completing her first year of study as a doctoral student in harp performance at the Fred Fox School of Music. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Xi’an Conservatory of Music in China and The University of Arizona. She has played several solo recitals at the UA, in the Tucson region, and also at the University of Utah. In June 2017, she gave a solo recital at Yunhe Concert Hall in her hometown of Jining, Shandong province in China. She is currently a teaching assistant in the UA Harp Studio and a member of Harp Fusion, the renowned harp ensemble in the Fred Fox School of Music.