The Alden Awards Scholarships to Young Performers

The Alden in McLean awarded scholarships to six local high school students for successfully competing in the 2016 James C. Macdonald Performing Arts Scholarship Competition. Following a preliminary audition and a final completion at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Mar. 16, the prizes were presented by MCC Governing Board Chair Paul Kohlenberger and The Alden's Director of Youth Programs Kathleen Herr. A division of the McLean Community Center, The Alden is located at 1234 Ingleside Avenue.

The James C. Macdonald Performing Arts Scholarship Competition encourages artistic achievement and promotes study in the arts by high school students who reside or attend school in the McLean district (Small Tax District 1A, Dranesville). Scholarship prizes of $1,200 are awarded to students placing first in each of four categories: Dance, Instrumental Music, Theatre and Vocal Music. Second-place winners are awarded $800 and third-place winners win $400. This year's competition showcased Vocal Music and Instrumental Music; there were not enough applicants in the Dance and Theatre categories to allow for a fair competition.

This year's winners were:

Instrumental Music
First Place Eric Lin, Sophomore, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology
Second Place Lauren Cain, Freshman, Langley High School
Third Place Xiyou Wang, Senior, McLean High School

Vocal Music
First Place Josh Delgado, Senior, McLean High School
Second Place Jamie Goodson, Junior, Langley High School
Third Place Nicole Sheehan, Senior, McLean High School

Theatre director Wendy J. Conte (Vocal Music), freelance violinist and orchestral contractor Pamela Lassell (Instrumental Music) singer, pianist and actor Jim Scopeletis (Vocal Music/Instrumental Music) and baritone Ethan Watermeier (Vocal Music/Instrumental Music) were judges for the completion.

For more information, call The Alden at 703-790-0123, TTY: 711, or visit: http://bit.ly/1yd1tHS.

Photo: 2016 Macdonald Scholarship Winners Jamie Goodson (2nd Place, Vocal Music), Josh Delgado (1st Place, Vocal Music), Nicole Sheehan (3rd Place, Vocal Music), MCC Governing Board Chair Paul Kohlenberger and Eric Lin (1st Place, Instrumental Music), Lauren Cain (2nd Place, Instrumental Music) and Xiyou Wang (3rd Place, Instrumental Music). Photo by Lisa Helfert Photography.