Welcome back, Sugar Strings! After their fabulous summer performances, the Sugar Strings are ready to begin rehearsals for their Fall/Winter 2018 Season and we’re excited to see what they have in store for us!
Photos by Damon Cross.
Welcome back, Sugar Strings! After their fabulous summer performances, the Sugar Strings are ready to begin rehearsals for their Fall/Winter 2018 Season and we’re excited to see what they have in store for us!
Photos by Damon Cross.
We are delighted to share the happy news today that all four LHS musicians who auditioned for the Houston Youth Symphony have been accepted! Congratulations to Christian (viola), Archana (violin), Catherine (violin), and Elizabeth (violin)! The 2018 – 2019 season will be Christian’s first year in HYS, Archana’s second, and Catherine and Elizabeth’s third. We are so proud of their wonderful accomplishments in an especially competitive audition year!
Additionally, Catherine and Elizabeth have been accepted into the top orchestra at Dulles MS, where they will begin 6th grade this fall. Christian and Archana will perform next spring at Carnegie Hall with the Clements HS orchestra. Thrilling news all around!

Congratulations to Emily, age 8, on her stunning violin performance today for all of the students and teachers at Bentley Elementary! Out of the 31 students across grades K – 5 who auditioned for a panel of four judges, Emily was the only second-grader (!) selected to perform for today’s talent show. She will follow up today’s performance with another one tomorrow for parents. Keep up the amazing work, Emily!
We are so excited to introduce the Sugar Strings Chamber Ensemble! Sugar Strings was formed in Fall 2017 and kicked off their first season with a dazzling holiday tour that included concerts around Houston and Sugar Land. You might have caught their spring program a few weeks ago at an event for the Sugar Land Art Center and Gallery! Sugar Strings is looking forward to welcoming three new ensemble members this July for their summer engagements. We’ll keep you posted on this page with more of their upcoming performances!



Congratulations to the following young musicians for successfully auditioning for and being accepted into AFA! We are so excited to have young musicians ranging from elementary school to middle and high school participating in both the MS and HS summer music programs. Well done, everyone!
Rohith, violin, 3rd grade
Jordan, viola, 10th grade
Kyle, violin, 6th grade
Morgan, viola, 6th grade
Ryder, viola, 7th grade
Catherine, violin, 5th grade
Elizabeth, violin, 5th grade
Zayn, viola, 6th grade
Today we have the honor of announcing the Solo & Ensemble results for our wonderful 6th-graders! As you all may know, many schools host the Solo & Ensemble competition for 6th graders a few months after the February Solo & Ensemble competition for older musicians (7th – 12th grade).
Congratulations to Zayn (6th Grade, Garcia Middle School) and Morgan (6th Grade, Baines Middle School) for receiving top marks (“1, Superior”) on their Solo & Ensemble performances this spring!
Special congratulations to Morgan for choosing to compete in both the solo AND the ensemble (chamber music) categories and receiving top marks in each. We are so proud of her and wish her the best of luck as she auditions this week for her school’s advanced orchestras!
Special congratulations to Zayn, who has already auditioned for and been selected into his school’s highest orchestra! We are so happy for his amazing progress this year!
On another inspiring note, both Zayn and Morgan have successfully auditioned for and been accepted into the American Festival for the Arts Summer Music Conservatory. Way to go, guys!
You can read about this past February’s wonderful Solo & Ensemble results for 7th – 12th grade LHS musicians here: https://laurenhaleystudios.com/2018/03/23/lhs-musicians-awarded-26-grade-1-medals-at-solo-ensemble/
We’re already off to a fantastic year at LHS, with our young musicians bringing home 26 Grade 1 medals in both the Solo and Ensemble categories at this year’s Solo & Ensemble competition. You’ll notice that the number of Grade I Medals exceeds the number of names on this list, indicating how many of our young musicians chose to compete in both categories and were awarded top marks and medals in each!
Katelynn, Clements HS, viola*
Neha, Fort Settlement MS, viola*
Anisha, Quail Valley MS, violin*
Amanda, Ridgepoint HS, viola*
Jacob, Quail Valley MS, viola*
Tarunikha, Fort Settlement MS, viola*
Archana, Clements HS, violin*
Anika, Dulles HS, viola*
Jordan, Travis HS, viola*
Aishwarya, Clements HS, violin*
Jessica, Fort Settlement MS, violin*
Olivia, Baines MS, viola
Hamsini, Fort Settlement MS, violin*
Mustafa, Travis HS, viola*
Ananya, Clements HS, violin*
Esosa, Travis HS, viola
Seline, Austin HS, violin*
Isaac, Dulles MS, viola*
Christian, Sugar Land MS, viola*
Paige, Dulles HS, violin*
Special congratulations to students who chose to compete in both categories and received top marks in each, and to our high schoolers who chose to perform their Level 1 pieces by memory and, in receiving top marks, qualified for state auditions in May!
*Indicates musicians who received the top grade for performances of PML Level 1 pieces. This is the highest HS level on the PML, and we’re thrilled with the number of middle school (!) and high school musicians who pursue these advanced studies!
Our new 6th-grade musicians on violin and viola will be competiting in Solo & Ensemble for the first time later this spring. We wish them luck and will keep you posted on their amazing progress!
December 2017 Student Showcase Recital
featuring works by Paganini, de Bériot, Saint-Saëns, and Viotti
Virtuosi of Houston Studio
Memorial City Mall
303 Memorial City Suite 235
Houston, Texas 77024

Congratulations to LHS violinist Hamsini on her successful audition for the extended concertmaster solo in her school orchestra’s upcoming performance!
Hamsini has won the first violin solo for Fantasia on Greensleeves (Ralph Vaughan Williams) and will perform it as concertmaster of the highest Fort Settlement Middle School orchestra at their winter concert this Monday, December 4th.
Hamsini, in eighth grade, also successfully auditioned for and performed in the 2017 MS Region concert. She received the top mark (“1”) for her 2017 Solo & Ensemble performance and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. We are so proud of you, Hamsini!

We’re so excited to remind you to tune in to Evelyn Lam’s Doctoral Degree Solo Recital, today at 7:00pm EST in Rochester, NY.
LHS families can watch the livestream (6:00pm CST) by following this link http://www.esm.rochester.edu/live/hatch and entering password maertSevil60!
Evelyn Lam, B.M., M.M., will perform with LHS young musicians in our next studio recital on Saturday, December 9th, 2017 at 6PM at the Virtuosi of Houston Studio.

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