On April 8, junior Leo Dworsky was announced as a Minnesota Varsity Showcase Artist for Classical Minnesota Public Radio. Dworsky said he entered the competition to display his devotion toward classical music as well to seek new possibilities for his singing career. 

“I love classical music and I wanted to showcase my love of classical music to as many people as possible,” Dworsky said. “Also I heard from some of my musical friends that they had success from this competition. I thought I would try it out and see what opportunities would come out of it.”

According to teacher Andrew Wilkes, Dworsky is a very dedicated and delightful student in his classroom and carries those traits into his musical performances.      

“Leo is certainly a great kid and he brings such passion and pride to everything he does. It doesn’t really surprise me, having him and seeing him in the classroom,” Wilkes said. “He brings this to his music too.”

Junior Ari Braverman said it’s difficult to win a statewide competition, but with Dworsky’s determination to get votes, he achieved his goal of being Showcase Artist.   

“He would go out to everybody and try to get everybody’s votes. He was really ambitious about it. He loved it and I’m very proud of him,” Braverman said. “I think it’s a very hard thing to do and be able to get that sort of title.”

According to Dworsky, he had two main goals when he entered the Classical Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) competition; to improve his skills as a singer and have his music recorded professionally. 

“Because when I was a featured artist, I had a professional recording at MPR headquarters and it was super cool having such high tech equipment and being able to record me and it really showcased me really well,” Dworsky said.

Wilkes said Dworsky’s traits as an artist are shown through his connections with people and ability to be kind to others.  

“More than anything he has the spirit and heart of an artist,” Wilkes said. “That comes out in his school work, how he interacts in the hallway, how he treats people that are close to him. He’s generally a warm, artistic kid.”

According to Braverman, he predicted that Dworsky would win because he knew how much work and time he put into getting votes and support from his community.    

“I was really happy for him,” Braverman said. “I knew he was so ambitious toward this thing and he knows so many people, so he’s going to get a lot of people to vote for him. I kind of knew he was going to win and had a feeling, but I was very happy that he won because he definitely deserves it.”