Featured Youth

Violinist Evelyn Holmes, born December 8th, 2007, grew up in an arts-rich family of dancers and musicians. At age eight, she began violin lessons, and she continues to study with Destiny Mermagen. She has received numerous honors including concertmaster of the Junior Heartland Chamber Music Festival, the Youth Symphony of Kansas City’s Academy division, and Shawnee Mission East Orchestra’s most advanced class. She was recently awarded an arts scholarship from the Koch Cultural Trust. In early 2022, Evelyn entered the Young Artist Competition and performed a concerto as a soloist with the Overland Park Orchestra. Evelyn is a member of local organization the Village Players and performs with them regularly as soloist and chamber musician. She is now a member of the Village Players Youth String Quartet. Evelyn hopes to continue her musical journey and someday enter music professionally as a violinist.

Violinist Gabrielle Griggs, currently fifteen years old, is an aspiring classical musician dedicated to sharing her passion for music. Although she began taking lessons just shy of age twelve, she has always been in love with the violin’s rich sound. She ultimately fell in love with the violin when she heard the recording “I Saw Three Ships” from Lindsey Stirling’s album Warmer in the Winter. However, it was not until she was introduced to the Suzuki method that she developed a passion for classical music. A couple of her greatest inspirations have been her teacher, Destiny Ann Mermagen and violinist, J’Anna Jacoby. Both professionals have mentored her to a great extent throughout her journey, inspiring and motivating her to reach her fullest potential. She is currently a member of the Village Players. Her experiences include participating in the Olathe Youth Symphony, Youth Symphony of Kansas City and attending masterclasses with such artists as Hilary Hahn and Christina Bouey. As she advances in her skills, she desires to continue her studies professionally in hopes of making classical music more prominent among today’s younger generation.

Cellist Will Savage, 12-years old, is in sixth grade at Lakewood Middle School in Overland Park. He studies cello with Susie Yang. In May, Will gave his concerto debut in Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall with the Kansas City Civic Orchestra after winning the Chatelaine Young Artist Competition. Will started studying when he was three in WA state with Sheila Kilcoyne, after falling in love with the cello and begging to start lessons as a one-year-old. Will dreams of playing Mahler as a cellist in the New York Philharmonic and writing a symphony someday. He also enjoys basketball, ping-pong, board games, math, reading, composing, Lego, Animal Crossing, and cheering on the Chiefs.

Violist Hazel Ecklund-Johnson is 16 and started playing viola in school at age 10. She began taking it more seriously at age 13 when she began taking private lessons, and it became so much more than a hobby. Now Hazel is the principal violist in her school’s honors orchestra and plays in the Youth Symphony of Kansas City’s symphony orchestra and participates in the Soundwave Academy chamber music program. Hazel is so excited to be a part of the Village Players Youth String Quartet as quartets are her favorite music to play.

Violinist Reagan Solenberger is currently a sophomore at Shawnee Mission East High School. She’s been playing violin since she was ten and has been taking lessons from Destiny for a little over three years. She also has been with her club swim team for four season now. Reagan has had so much fun preparing for this concert and is so excited to perform!

Cellist Sarah Powers is a 16 year old sophomore from Basehor, Kansas. Sarah started with the piano as her main instrument at the age of nine and soon after began to learn to play the violin in her school orchestra classes. However, in sixth grade, she decided to switch from violin to cello and began to take private lessons. The next year, Sarah joined the Youth Symphony of Kansas City (YSKC) and has been a member since. While she did not initially focus on the cello as her main instrument, Sarah recently began to shift her musical interests after attending the Heartland Chamber Music Festival this past summer. Since then, she has joined several chamber music programs, such as Soundwave Academy and Village Players, where she is a member of the Village Players Youth String Quartet, and has been made principal of the Academy Orchestra (YSKC), who she will be performing with in New York City at Carnegie Hall this summer. Sarah currently studies cello under Dr. Ezgi Karakus and Prof. Michael Mermagen.

Violinist Luis Alvarado has been playing the violin for 6 years. He first began his journey at Harmony Project KC where he was given his first violin, and since then he has performed in numerous places such as the Kauffman Center and the Folly Theatre. He served as concertmaster for his high school orchestra and has participated in events like Solo & Ensemble. He was invited to perform a solo with Harmony Project’s Encore Orchestra. He has been accepted and will be attending UMKC, double majoring in both violin and accounting this fall. He currently studies under Can Moretti.