Finck wins National String Competition

Ledah Finck is known to many as a fiddler in the popular local Celtic band, The Forget-Me-Nots.
However, last week, in Newark, Del., she displayed her considerable skills playing classical violin at the University of Delaware (UDel) National String Competition.

Although still just a junior at Watauga High School, Finck auditioned and was accepted in the collegiate division of the competition. Over the course of the four-day event, she presented works by five different composers, including the complete Wieniawski Violin concerto No. 2 and the Paganini Variations on the G-string.

Finck was ultimately awarded first place for her performance. Among her prizes is an engagement next season for UDel's Master Players Concert Series for which she will perform a complete violin concerto accompanied by a professional orchestra.

As the winner of the competition, she has also been loaned a violin built by master luthier Kurt Widenhouse of Belmont, N.C., from the collection of Dr. Christopher Boorse, a professor at UDel.
Finck's teacher is Dr. Nancy Bargerstock of Appalachian State University's Hayes School of Music. She was accompanied by pianist Julie Nishimura. Xiang Gao is director of the competition.