Ocean City Pops Award 11 Students In Music Contest

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The Friends of the Ocean City Pops awarded 11 students for their musical talents at the 11th Annual Esther Weil Student Music Competition on May 12.

For most of the participants, the competition at the Music Pier was their first performance in front of a live audience.

Twenty-one contestants representing 11 different high schools participated in the contest.

In the four divisions, including female vocal, male vocal, instrumental and piano, students were awarded $1,000 for first place, $500 for second and $250 for third.

The judges included Bill Scheible, conductor emeritus, Greg DiBona, a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, and Nicole Snodgrass, choral director at Cherokee High School and soloist at Old Pine Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

The emcee duties for the contest were handled by Stephen Gring.

Here are winners and their awards.

Female vocal:

• 1st place, Morgan Murphy, Holy Spirit High School, $1,000
• 2nd place, Vanessa DeJean, Holy Spirit High School, $500
• 3rd place, Lena Dougherty, Wildwood Catholic Academy, $250

Male Vocal:

• 1st place, Erik Wagoner, Ocean City High School, $1,000
• 2nd place (No prize given)
• 3rd Place, Aiden Bradley, Wildwood Catholic Academy, $250

Instrumental:

• 1st place, Connor Morrisey, Trombone, Absegami High School, $1,000
• 2nd place, Kayla Muniz, Trumpet, Absegami High School, $500
• 3rd place, Cristina Barbella, Saxophone, Ocean City High School, $250

Piano:

• 1st place, Alexander DeStefano, Holy Spirit High School, $1,000
• 2nd place, Dennis Xu, Mainland High School, $500
• 3rd place, Nathaniel Paul Pradela, St. Augustine Prep, $250

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