Southeastern CMS student wins GNOYO competition
Tuesday, January 5, 2021 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
SOUTHEASTERN COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL STUDENT WINS GNOYO COMPETITION - Southeastern Louisiana University Community Music School violin student Alana Saenz won the Philharmonia division of the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra concerto competition held Jan. 3 in New Orleans. Saenz, along with the winners from all divisions, will perform as a soloist with the GNOYO this spring.
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University Community Music School violin student
Alana Saenz won the Philharmonia division of the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestra
concerto competition held Jan. 3 in New Orleans. Saenz, along with the winners from
all divisions, will perform as a soloist with the GNOYO this spring.
“We at CMS are very happy and proud of Alana’s success and wish her many more
successes to come. As her violin teacher, I can say that she is very dedicated to
her violin studies as is her older brother, Brennan Saenz, who was chosen as the runner
up at the competition this year,” said CMS Director Jivka Duke. “Both always perform
with an exceptional artistry and musical maturity despite their young ages. Alana
has really put in a lot of hard work into her violin skills this year, and her win
is well deserved. I am very happy that her talent and efforts are recognized and rewarded.”
A resident of Mandeville, Saenz is 11 years old and a fifth grade homeschooler.
She started playing the violin in first grade, and has since won several competitions.
“In 2018 and 2019 Alana was among the winners of the Southeastern Concerto Competition,
and in January of 2019, she and her older brother Brennan won the symphonia division
of the GNOYO concerto competition performing Vivaldi’s ‘Concerto for Two Violins in
A minor,’” said Duke. “This year Alana performed the all time favorite and quite challenging
‘Czardas’ by Vittorio Monti.”
The Community Music School spring 2021 semester begins the week of Jan. 25. The
13-week spring semester will offer individual lessons on various instruments and voice
to students of all ages at the three CMS campuses at Southeastern in Hammond, the
Livingston Literacy Center in Walker, and Northshore Technical Community College in
Lacombe.
For more information about all CMS programs and general registration, call 985-549-5502,
or visit the CMS website at www.southeastern.edu/cms.
