Whiz Kid: Cranbrook Musician Earns Local and State Recognition

Each week, Bloomfield Patch features students doing amazing things in their schools and in their communities. This week's Whiz Kid is a classical musician who received new honors and will attend an elite program this summer.

Abigail Elder

Age: 16

School:

Achievements: This classical musician's reputation is spreading beyond her Bloomfield Hills school, where she studies viola, is on dean's list and receives an annual $10,000 scholarship for music students "who demonstrate strong academic achievement, potential to contribute to the school community, as well as exceptional ability and dedication as musicians."

During a busy spring, Elder delivered solo performances at Beverly Hills, Dearborn and Mount Pleasant, playing an 1837 Italian-made viola loaned by a Los Angeles philanthropist who collects antique instruments.

As the winner of a yearly Young Artist String Competition conducted by the Birmingham Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra, she performed the first movement of Concerto for Viola and Orchestra by William Walton with the orchestra at Groves High School. 

In mid-May, Elder was among four soloists at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival concert on Central Michigan University's campus. The Cranbrook student earned that honor at April auditions by qualifying as one of 11 semifinalists and then being selected for a solo showcase. A week after the festival, she reprised Walton's concerto with the Dearborn Symphony at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center.

Key to awesomeness: Amid music activities on campus and off, Elder makes time for athletics as a cross-country team runner. She's principal violist of the Cranbrook Orchestra, a member of the Cranbrook Quartet, a member of the school's Madrigals Women's Choir and president of the Chamber Club, which presents chamber music at assisted living facilities and elsewhere in the community.

She's also a three-year member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Civic Youth Orchestra and has won national prizes for viola performance and music composition. From Thursday through July 31 this summer, she returns to the Perlman Music Program at Shelter Island, NY, an intensive school for 37 young string players from around the world. It's led by renowned violinists Toby and Itzhak Perlman.

Do you know our next Whiz Kid?

Bloomfield Patch welcomes suggestions for students, youth groups and even sports teams who wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or email the information to editor Art.Aisner@patch.com. Please include all these details:

• Nominator's name
• Whiz Kid's name and age
• Whiz Kid's school
• Whiz Kid's accomplishment
• What makes him or her successful