Brighton Youth to Perform with Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra

The Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra will present its annual Christmas concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, at Our Lady Star of the Sea, 467 Fairford Road in Grosse Pointe Woods.

The concert will feature the winners of the annual Nester Scholarship competition. Spencer Grasl will play the Marcello concerto for oboe and Alyssa Campbell will play Vivaldi’s Winter concerto from the Seasons on her violin. The combined choirs of the Grosse Pointe Community Chorus and the Our Lady Star of the Sea choir will do selections from Handel’s Messiah.

Spencer Grasl, a junior at Brighton High School, began his formal music studies when he was 8 years old. He is currently studying with Tim Michling, principal oboe of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. A previous winner of both the GrossePointe Concerto Competition and the Royal Oak Concerto Competition, Spencer is principle oboe of the Detroit Symphony’s Civic Youth Orchestra, and he has performed with the Detroit Chamber Winds, the Brighton Wind Ensemble, Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Civic Woodwind Quintet, and the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association Honors Band.

Recent competitions and honors include Solo and Ensemble, Local, and State Levels all 1’s; an invitation to compete in MSBOA/Michigan Youth Arts Festival Soloist Competition, 2013 and 2014; Royal Oak Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Scholarship Winner and performance of a Haydn oboe concerto with Royal Oak Symphony, May 2013; Honorable Mention Lansing Symphony Concerto Competition, May 2013; Honorable Mention Toledo Symphony Competition, June 2013; Avanti Concerto Competition Winner, July 2013; Sphinx Concerto Competition Semi-Finalist, April 2014; and MSBOA Distinguished Scholar Award 2014.

Spencer intends to study oboe performance at either Rice University or University of Texas-Austin, and his goal is to become an oboe soloist. He considers the Toledo Symphony Orchestra a “terrific ensemble” and is “very excited to be a part of it.” He will perform “Concerto on Themes from Donizetti’s ‘La Favorita’” by Pasculli at the March 15 concert.

Alyssa Campbell is a junior at Grosse Pointe South High School. She is an active and enthusiastic member of the music program where Alyssa is concertmaster for both the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. She is also a percussionist in the Symphony Band. In addition, Alyssa is president of the school orchestra program and a member of the Tri-M Honor Society.

Outside of school, she is a junior member of the Tuesday Musicale of Detroit and a violinist with the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra. In 2013, she expanded into the chamber program by joining the Herbig Piano Quartet and is presently a member of the Jarvi String Quartet. Alyssa first began studying violin with Julia Kurtyka. She has since studied with Derek Francis, retired member of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Hai Xin Wu, assistant concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Alyssa spends her summers immersing herself in music and this past year she attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute for orchestral studies. Previous summers include two years at Interlochen for violin studies and two at Blue Lake for music composition. In 2013, Alyssa was the merit recipient of the Interlochen’s, Donna V. Neale Scholarship. In addition to summer study, she has attended the Philadelphia Orchestra’s, Winter Intensive Solo performance program in 2011 and 2012.

Alyssa’s primary instrument is the violin, however she also studies piano with Cheryl Costantino, at The Golden Keys Conservatory. She enjoys competing in piano competitions and participates in both the Michigan Federation of Music Clubs festivals and yearly evaluations by the National Guild of Piano Teachers. In 2013, she competed at the MAC OPEN, Fall Classic and won first place. Alyssa regularly performs in concerts at local nursing homes and the Detroit Veterans Hospital. This year she began assisting her piano teacher with younger students by teaching them how to use music technology.

Alyssa is also an avid composer. She was the state winner in her age category for the Michigan Federation of Music Clubs, 2010, 2012, and 2013. In 2014, she was chosen as the Northeast Regional winner for her submission, Three Part Fugue in C major. Her compositions have also won at a national level. In 2014, The American College of Musicians and The National Guild of Piano Teachers awarded her the Hazel Skaggs and Hansi Alt composition scholarship.

For three consecutive years, she has been a winner of the Michigan Music Education Association Honors composition contest. This honor allowed her to receive composition classes with David Gillingham and Ron Newman at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival. Finally, Alyssa became the youngest and first junior member accepted into Women Composers of Michigan club.

Alyssa plans to continue her music studies in college. She is striving to refine her skills to play at her highest level possible. It is her goal to share her passion for music professionally.

The Grosse Pointe Symphony is supported by grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts and St. John Hospital and Medical Center.

Tickets are available at the door or at Grosse Pointe Art Center
17118 Kercheval (313) 881-3454
Adults $15 - Seniors $12 - Grades K-12 Free
For more information: (313) 885-5455