By Cheyanne Admire
The annual Solo Festival was open to the public this past weekend to watch students from kindergarten to 12th grade perform and compete in voice and piano.
The event was held at Howard Auditorium, which is located on Louisiana Tech’s campus and an overall trophy was awarded to each age division.
Students performed in the morning on their own with a judge, and those who judges ranked high were invited to return in the afternoon for an honors recital in Howard Auditorium. They each practiced a song to perform, which had to be memorized and played in front of the solo audience of the judge.
Judges included multiple musical professionals in the field, including teachers and faculty.
Anna Baines was once a performer in Solo Fest and now has three kids of her own that are following in her footsteps.
“Getting to perform in Howard is such an honor,” Baines said. “In a positive way you never really know what’s going to happen until the day of the festival. It’s always a surprise and very exciting.”
Her daughter, Elena Baines, who was a 9th grade contestant this year, said, “Solo Fest is a good opportunity to show off your talent. We have a great music community in Ruston for encouragement and feedback.”
