“If I don’t start now, I’ll never be a professional violinist!” This is what Sydney Mason told her mother when she was only seven years old in Kodiak, Alaska. As the daughter of a Coast Guardsman, Sydney was home-schooled and began violin lessons with Elizabeth Santoro of the Kodiak Youth Orchestra at the age of seven. Between 2000 and 2008, Sydney studied with Jason Gregory, Dr. Michael Weaver, and Dora Mullins in Elizabeth City, North Carolina and Virginia Beach, Virginia, respectively. When she entered college at Appalachian State University, Sydney worked with Dr. Nancy Bargerstock, and now in her final year at Stetson University she is earning a bachelor of music in violin performance. In recognition of her artistic achievements, she is the recipient of Stetson’s William E. Duckwitz Talent Scholarship as a student of Mrs. Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez.
Sydney has performed with many ensembles since beginning her musical career. In 2003, she helped co-found the Elizabeth City State University Albemarle Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dr. Michael Weaver. She auditioned and attended the North Carolina Eastern Regional All-State Orchestra Clinic between 2006 and 2008. During her time at Appalachian State University, Sydney was a member of the University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras as well as the Mason Quartet and the Honors Quintet. While at Stetson University, she has been a member of the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, holding such positions as principal second violin for Dvorak’s Symphony 8 in Symphony Orchestra and concertmaster for Vivaldi’s “Spring” Concerto in Chamber Orchestra. She was also a member of the Jones-Mason Duo with pianist Quentin Jones playing Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor, K. 304 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. As a soloist, Sydney performed her junior recital in November 2011 in partial fulfillment of her degree. She programmed the second and third movements from Sonata for Violin and Piano in A major, Opus 12, No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven and the first movement of Concerto for Violin in E minor, Opus 64 by Felix Mendelssohn. Sydney’s repertoire ranges from J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi to Samuel Barber and Dmitri Kabalevsky and she continues to be an active member of both orchestras at Stetson University.
In 2009, Sydney spent two weeks in China in collaboration with Appalachian State University Orchestra and Fudan University Orchestra. While there, she performed in the Beijing and Shanghai Concert Halls under the baton of Dr. James Anderson. During the summer of 2007, she attended the North Carolina Governor’s School West at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina performing under the baton of Dr. Randy Foy, Director of Orchestral Activities at North Carolina State University. She performed such works as Symphony 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich and The Map: Concerto for Cello, Video, and Orchestra with soloist Mr. Jason Love.
Sydney plans to give her senior recital in the spring semester of 2013, and, upon graduation in May 2013, she plans to pursue graduate study while actively auditioning for positions in professional orchestras.
