Chaitanya Natarajan of Plainsboro is a winner of Westminster Conservatory’s concerto competition and will perform the first movement of Villa-Lobos’ Fantasia for Soprano Saxophone with the Westminster Community Orchestra at the Westminster Conservatory Showcase on Sunday, March 16, at 3 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium on the Princeton University campus.
A senior at High School North, Natarajan, who has been playing the alto saxophone since fifth grade, also plays the soprano saxophone. He has studied under Darryl Yokley at Westminster Conservatory for the past eight years, and he is part of the Young Artists Program. He was a winner of last year’s Musicfest competition and performed at Carnegie Hall.
At North he performs as first chair in his high school jazz bands and sings in the a cappella groups Out of the Blue and Knight Owls. Natarajan is also involved in vocal and instrumental South Indian classical music and studies advanced violin with Radhika Devarajan. He hopes to pursue saxophone performance and mathematics in college next year.
Participants in the competition are nominated by faculty members. The winners are selected after each nominee performs for a panel of judges. Winners receive the opportunity to perform a piece or movement with the Westminster Community Orchestra during its showcase concert.
Westminster Conservatory Showcase, Westminster Conservatory, Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University. Sunday, March 16, 3 p.m. $15. 609-258-9220. www.rider.edu/arts.
