After hearing he was named a featured artist for the Minnesota Varsity Classical Minnesota Public Radio, junior Leo Dworsky said it’s wonderful that in an era where other genres of music are praised, the love for classical music hasn’t been forgotten.  

“It’s amazing that there are organizations that will reward people for loving classical music. Our world is so dominated by pop and by other genres and it’s just awesome that there are other people that share the love for classical music,” Dworsky said.

Choir teacher John Myszkowski said he was not shocked to learn about the accomplishment. 

“I wasn’t surprised other than seeing it. It was a huge honor because they haven’t had a vocalist. Even this year he’s the only vocalist and is very skilled and shows a lot of control in his voice, and he’s very expressive, so I was not surprised,” Myszkowski said. 

Junior Kaylee Quick, a friend of Dworsky, said some of her relatives listen to the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), where Dworsky’s music will possibly play. 

“I think it’s pretty cool, I have relatives who listen to classical MPR so I’m just waiting for the day when one of them says ‘I just heard your friend on classical MPR,’” Quick said. 

Dworsky Said the program  is for young artists and composers, and is an opportunity for them to receive scholarships.

“I submitted my piece called ‘Ich Liebe Dich’ by Beethoven and then that was heard by a panel of judges and they decided whether I would make it into the category of instrumentalists and vocalists,” Dworsky said. “They chose 10 instumentalists and five composers and I made it into one of the 10 vocalists, so because of this I’m in the running for college scholarships.” 

According to Myszkowski, Dworsky has developed his own style in music.

“I think he’s come more attune to his own voice and having his training reflect his own personal attributes rather than maybe imitating things he had heard when he was younger. He’s become his own individual,” Myszkowski said. 

Since meeting Dworsky, Quick says she’s seen him grow and gradually gain confidence with the difficulty of his music selection.  

“I’ve seen him do progressively more challenging content and do more performances that would just get him more publicity. So it’s definitely a progression as an artist getting his name out there and getting technically better and just moving his career along,” Quick said.

Dworsky said while also possibly receiving scholarships, he will get other benefits from this opportunity as well.

“I’m receiving a recording session at the classical MPR headquarters in March, and from there that recording will be broadcasted on the radio and people will vote,” Dworsky said. “The person with the highest amount of votes gets to perform at the showcase concert and they get to perform at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on May 31.”