There likely were no shouts of “Bravo!” Maybe just the sound of judges penning their notes.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s Nelda Hodges Young Artist Competition was held at cozy Woodward-Dellis Recital Hall on the Hardin-Simmons University campus with family and judges and some Abilene Philharmonic staff present.
The winners deserved much more.
But with the Philharmonic having to scrap its final two shows of the season, including a second try at Canadian Brass this month, just having the competition deserves applause.
The final round of the 2020 competition was June 27, with Ricardo “Ricky” Hinojosa named this year’s winner. He played the marimba.
Hinojosa was a junior last year at Cooper High School but has returned to Laredo, where he attended his freshman year before moving to Abilene.
He was awarded a $1,500 scholarship.
Second place went to Jared Ripple, a graduate of the beleaguered but battling Class of 2020. He played the cello. Third was pianist Sarah Chen, who will be an eighth-grader whenever school begins again at Talkington School for Young Women in Lubbock.
The runner-up prize went to soprano saxophone player Cole Patterson, of Abilene.
The award provided those four young musicians with a high note for a weird ending to their school year and encouragement as they move forward.
Ripple, who received a $1,000 scholarship, has been studying the cello since he was 10 and has landed a spot at the highly regarded music school at the University of North Texas. He will study with Eugene Osadchy.
HInojosa would like to join Ripple at UNT, “depending on how the whole situation goes” his senior year and with COVID-19, he said.
Ah, yes, the coronavirus …
Hinojosa is unsure how his senior year will play out. Still remembered for his musical talent, he was named captain of the 45-member percussion corps at Laredo United High School.
“The (band) director knew what I was capable of,” he said of his return.
So far, he has learned to roll with it.
“I kinda dug it,” he said of finishing the school year studying remotely. “It gave me more time to practice.”
But, like other students, he did not like the social distancing part.
“I couldn’t see my friends on a regular basis,” he said.
And now he’s gone. Plans to return to Abilene during the summer have been grounded due to the surge in coronavirus cases in Texas.
Hinojosa missed a chance, too, to finish the year with another trip to Austin for UIL state solo and ensemble competition.
“That’s the most exciting part of the year,” he said. “It was a shot to the heart.”
He went as a freshmen, earning a second division rating. As a sophomore, he improved to first division.
Drummer boy
Hinojosa is a percussion guy. He can play anything.
“Anything you can hit with a stick,” he said, laughing. He has mastered the bass, snare and drum kits.
A favorite?
“Don’t ask me that!” he said, laughing. “I like to be well-rounded.”
Like many student musicians, he began in sixth grade. The next year, he already was an all-region performer. Next came all-state honors.
He has been a member of Abilene Youth Orchestra, and a highly regarded jazz band player.
It always has been the drums, he said. His dad was a drummer in high school. He didn’t give his son much choice when he began his musical education.
Ricky Hinojosa definitely was not going to play a wind instrument. No offense to those players but the Hinojosa boys played the drums.
Young artists star
The Nelda Hodges competition recognizes young artists and last was held in 2018. For the 2020-21 season, that year’s bronze medalist, ATEMS valedictorian and violinist Faith Fang will perform on the “Russian Fanfare” program Jan. 16.
Pandemic permitting, of course.
Previously, 2016 Abilene High grad Halle Puckett has performed with the Philharmonic, including the “Emperor Concerto” program this past season.
The competition has been held every other year but is going to be annual now.
Hinojosa heard about the competition and “I thought I’d give it a try,” he said. Percussion excellence, he said, is a bit under the radar in Abilene and he simply wanted to show what he could do.
The marimba is not the solo instrument that the violin, cello or piano is in an orchestral setting. Why not?
Drums aren’t shunned at the Abilene Convention Center hall. This past season, the Abilene High School drum line was part of the holiday show program.
Drum lines, Hinojosa said, have raised awareness. He was a member of Cooper High’s drum line, those crazy kids getting the student fans at football games worked up with their beats.
But this was going to be way more formal.
“I wanted to show what I could do,” HInojosa said. “I love solo performances.”
He just doesn’t get many opportunities.
Allen Teel, the Philharmonic’s longtime timpanist and Abilene Christian University instructor, said Hinojosa was the third marimba performer in the youth competition.
“It’s not a concerto competition, so whether an instrument is viewed as an orchestral instrument isn’t really a consideration,” he said.
Hinojosa saw a notice for the competition while rehearsing with the youth orchestra.
“I thought it would be cool. I just wanted to perform for people,” not necessarily win, he said. For a few minutes, people could see and hear him.
But he did.
Marimba showtime
Hinojosa performed two pieces.
One was “Virginia Tate,” a “smooth, easy-going” piece that’s “nice to hear,” he said. It’s by Paul Smadbeck.
The other was the first movement of a two-movement work by Japanese marimba player Toshinori Tanaka.
Hinojosa called it a “really intense” piece that goes atonal (music that lacks a specific key).
Unlike the “beautiful melody” of “Tate,” this piece “has no melody,” he said. It’s more of a “bunch of notes,” he said. “It’s such an awesome piece.”
In the end though, the notes come together and “it sounds like it has a melody.”
The 1-2 combination of styles must have wowed the judges.
“I believe I can speak for all of the judges by saying we think that it’s wonderful anytime that any young instrumentalist is willing to put in the hard work and ‘put themselves out there’ for a contest like this,” Teel said.
“All four of the finalists had some very nice things about their performances, and it was the judges’ consensus that Ricky had the strongest performance on the day of the final round.”
David Itkin, the Philharmonic’s music director and conductor, said he heard four top-notch performances.
“Listening to these talented young musicians makes me hopeful about the future of the arts,” he said. “I am very pleased that the Hodges family and the Abilene Philharmonic can contribute to our future in this way.”
What’s ahead
Hinojosa had no idea of what to expect when he entered the competition.
For his senior year, he has even less to work with.
“Honestly,” he said, “I don’t have any expectations. There’s nothing I can do but look forward to it. I expect anything to happen.”
He hopes to continue playing the drums in the marching band and marimba during the concert season, if those go on.
If not in person, he will lead other student musicians online.
He had moved from Laredo to Abilene with his father but COVID-19 forced them to return to the border city. Hinojosa has helped with the family business, which builds and maintains swimming pools.
Like other students across Texas, he exited the campus for spring break and never came back.
“Yes, it was crazy for me, too,” he said.
And it’s not like he could take a marimba home or acquire one easily to continue to practice.
Order one online, like groceries? He laughed.
“I couldn’t afford that,” he said.
He was able to get into McMurry University to practice.
“I spent hours (there),” he said.
Hinojosa said he treasured his two years in Abilene.
“It definitely was a real interesting experience in a small town,” he said. Laredo is more than twice the size of Abilene. “There is little to no traffic.”
In Abilene, he made friends. Not only in band, which was the case in Laredo previously, but outside of band.
“I think living in Abilene was a true blessing,” he said.
And winning the Nelda Hodges Young Artist Competition no doubt was part of that.
Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.
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