Arts & Entertainment

Ridgewood Choral Honors Teen Flutist, Cellist with Scholarships

Local teenagers are both planning to pursue music careers.

The following was submitted to Patch by the Ridgewood Choral.

The Ridgewood Choral is pleased to announce Tiffany Sun, flutist of Tenafly as first place winner and Mark Serkin, cellist of Fair Lawn as second place winner of the 2014 Florence Reinauer Memorial Music Award for excellence in vocal or instrumental performance.  

The award is given to high school seniors who intend to continue their musical education at an institute of higher learning. Instituted in 1967, the fund was later endowed by Franklin Reinauer as a memorial to his wife Florence. To date the Choral awarded more than $20,000 to encourage talented young musicians.

Tiffany Sun is a senior in Tenafly High School in New Jersey and plans to pursue both music and business in college, and wishes to work in the music industry in the future. She has been accepted early decision into Williams College. 

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Currently, in addition to high school, she has been attending the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division as a flutist since 2011 in her sophomore year, playing in multiple chamber music groups, participating in the orchestra and symphony program, and taking theory and ear training classes.  

In high school she went on to play in the New Jersey All-State Band in 2011 before going to the Juilliard Pre-College. She has performed multiple times in Carnegie Hall as well. In 2013, she won first place in the International Music Arts Society’s Young Artist Competition, and in 2011, received a Blue Ribbon in the New York Flute Club’s Young Artist Competition. Currently, she studies flute with Mr. Bart Feller in Juilliard Pre-College, and has previously studied with Ms. Soo-Kyung Park, and Ms. Stella Chiu.

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Mark Serkin is an honors student at Fair Lawn High School, and principal cellist of the Fair Lawn High School Orchestra and Select Honors Chamber Orchestra.  Presently, Mark studies at the Mannes College of Music Preparatory Division in New York City with Barbara Stein Mallow. He is assistant principal at the Mannes Philharmonic orchestra and an active member of many different chamber groups.  

In the beginning of 2013, Mark took second place in the KRB New York International Music Competition and played a recital at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In April of 2013, he was a Gold Winner at the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition and played a recital at the Merkin Concert Hall, New York. Mark is looking forward to a fulfilling musical career playing cello.  

Ms. Sun and Mr. Serkin will perform at the Ridgewood Choral 86th Anniversary Spring Concert on Friday, April 11, at 8 p.m. at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood.  Tickets are available in advance from Choral members or at the door on the day of the performance.  Visit http://www.ridgewoodchoral.org/ for more information.


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