By Misty DUPLESSIS

On May 4, high school sophomore and La Cañada resident Jiye Angela Bae was named runner-up for her performance on the violin in the classical instrumental category in the Music Center’s Spotlight competition.

For the Spotlight competition, high school musicians go through preliminary and semi-final rounds for a chance to make it to the finals.

The Spotlight’s final rounds were held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s Music Center where Bae competed opposite a guitarist. Musicians are not categorized by different instruments, but rather all classical musicians are categorized together.

As a winner, Bae received a $4,000 scholarship from the program, which is designed for high school performing arts students.

Bae performed a song titled, “Bloch Nigun” and describes the song as “emotional.”

“I just love performing emotional pieces because I can be free with my feelings that I show on stage. No one can stop me nor distract me while I’m on stage. I always get into my pieces so much, but I feel like this particular piece gave me more freedom. I just had so much fun,” Bae said of the piece she played.

Bae’s time on stage was well received with the audience expressing its approval for her performance.

Bae auditioned for the competition with the hopes of challenging herself and to having the opportunity to shine on stage. She did just that.

The Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences student has been playing the violin since she was 3 years old and practices for several hours a day. The Spotlight competition proved that the hard work was well worth the effort.

“It would be a lie if I said I’ve never hated violin. However, these rewards and performances I get are just so thrilling,” said Bae, adding that though the process of preparing takes great dedication and patience, she now looks forward to practicing.

Although Bae’s freshman year is coming to an end, she plans to keep herself occupied with scheduled performances at the Concerto Competition Winner’s Recital with the Palisades Symphony on June 9 and a duet with her teacher Phillip Levy at the Sunday’s Live Concert at Bing Theater of LACMA on June 30.

“Spotlight is just all about experiences and meeting other fabulous high schoolers. I am so happy that I applied for Spotlight and, honestly, I’ve changed so much [because of]this program the past six months as a musician and as a person,” Bae said revealing that the ‘star’ treatment she received makes her want to go through the experience all over again.