This Contest Jumps Genres

Lots of orchestras hold concerto competitions to showcase young artists. But Barry Silverman, founding conductor of the South Coast Symphony (formerly Aliso Viejo Symphony), decided that was too limiting.

“Our competition is a performance competition,” Silverman said. “Students between 12 and 20 can try out on any instrument, but it’s also open to voice and jazz and musical-theater students. Our three winners this year include a trumpeter, a violinist and a singer, who is a music theater major.”

The three will be featured in the orchestra’s “Young Stars of the Future” program tonight at Coast Hills Church in Aliso Viejo.

David Hall, 16, will play a movement from Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto in E flat. Violinist Han-sol Oh, 19, will play the first movement from the Sibelius Violin Concerto. Soprano Krysta Rodriguez, 17, will sing songs by Stephen Sondheim and Stephen Schwartz.

In addition, Stacy Wetzel and Minor Wetzel, husband-and-wife members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will be the soloists in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola.

The young artists’ competition, sponsored by the John Nuveen & Co. investment firm, was open to students who live or study in Orange County. There were 38 applications this year, the third year of the contest.

“That is the best draw we’ve had,” Silverman said.

Twenty-three made the cut to perform in the live auditions, which served essentially as the finals. The three winners received $1,000 each. They will also appear in recital Feb. 23 at Soka University in Aliso Viejo.

Silverman started the orchestra under the name of that city in 1996, but changed it this season to South Coast Symphony. Concertgoers may recall another local orchestra that performed under that name from 1984 until 1992, when its board--declaring a fiscal crisis--shut it down.

“It was not my first choice, but members of the orchestra and the board liked it,” said Silverman who occasionally played timpani in the original South Coast Symphony. “It fits better because our goal basically is a larger identification with south county. We want to relate to the 14 cities of south county, which we serve.”

The orchestra is a mix of union, nonunion and volunteer musicians.

“The goal is to increase the union membership each year, which we’ve done,” Silverman said. “The local union is happy with that. Currently we have between 23 and 25 union players, depending on the repertory.”

The new group operates on an annual budget of about $150,000. “It’s a shoestring, but we’re working to double it.”

Concerts are held in Coast Hills Church, where subscriptions for assigned seats were sold for the first time this season.

“That doubled our subscription sales,” said Silverman, who added that the average attendance is about 1,000 people per concert.

“We’re still keeping ticket prices real cheap. No orchestra makes it by ticket sales anyway. So let’s get people in the door.”

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Barry Silverman will lead the South Coast Symphony in a “Young Stars of the Future” program [at 8 tonight at Coast Hills Church, 5 Pursuit, Aliso Viejo. $18, general; $15, students and seniors. (949) 586-7234.