Grass Valley – Athena Giuliani, an 18-year-old violinist, has been selected to represent Nevada County Rotary Clubs at the Rotary’s Annual High School Instrument Music Contest in Reno May 18. She will compete for the chance to win a $1,000 prize.
Giuliani won the Area 4 Rotary Clubs’ music contest April 14 with her rendition of Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns. The competition came with a $250 prize.
“Athena stood out with her impressive demonstration of advanced technique and musicality, delivering a truly outstanding performance,” said Ken Hardin, one of the competition judges and artistic director of InConcert Sierra.
Giuliani, who is a senior at Forest Charter School, started her classical violin training with the Suzuki Violin Method at age 3. She also has been studying traditional Celtic music with internationally known Nevada County fiddler Alasdair Fraser since age 7.
Giuliani was selected as co-concertmaster (one of the two most skilled violinists) of the Sacramento Youth Symphony Premier Orchestra and frequently performs with the Auburn and Berkeley symphony orchestras. Previously, she served as concertmaster of the Music in the Mountains Youth Orchestra in Grass Valley.
She currently co-teaches the violin elective class at Mount Saint Mary’s Academy and also teaches private violin lessons.
She will be studying violin performance at the highly regarded San Francisco Conservatory of Music this fall. She gratefully accepts any donations towards her studies through Venmo @Athenarg. She can be reached at athenagiuliani@gmail.com.