The Sonora Bach Festival will be presenting its Youth Concert on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m., at Chapel in the Pines, 18580 Cherokee Drive, Twain Harte.

Several young, local performers will be participating as well as guest pianist and Cal State Stanislaus student, Roy Mendiola. Tickets are $10 and are available online at sonorabach.org; The Mountain Bookshop in Sonora; or by calling 209-536-6330. Tickets will also be sold at the door if still available.

The first event of the annual festival, this youth concert will feature auditioned students from the Central Sierra region. The event will be held at Chapel in the Pines. Makena Benz, co-director of the event and local string teacher, said, “We had to move the concert location because we outgrew our old location. We are thrilled that our local musicians are supported so well in this community.”

Each performer was selected by audition before three judges who gave the students written evaluations.

Diane Wright, director of the Sonora Bach Festival said, “We are so happy to have this opportunity for our young, local musicians. The whole process – from the audition and evaluations to the performance – is meant to encourage them in their studies. Learning an instrument is a pretty solitary activity, so it is wonderful for these students to see others, like themselves, who are pursuing music.”

They will be performing on violin, piano and voice. All performers in the concert – who range in age from seven to 16 – will also be receiving a $100 award for the furtherance of their musical studies.

“We are so grateful to our donors who have so generously given so we can support these young people. Weekly lessons and music supplies are expensive so this can help them,” Benz explained.

This year’s guest artist is pianist Roy Mendiola. A senior, piano student at California State University, Stanislaus, Mendiola studies with Dr. Sarah Chan. He began teaching himself piano at age nine, then studied with a variety of teachers.

The Youth Concert is the first of the 48th Sonora Bach Festival. Future events include The Local’s Concert on Oct. 13 featuring talented, local, adult singers and instrumentalists; The Salon Concert on Oct. 20, with guest pianist Jason Jeffrey; and The Bach’s Brunch on Oct. 26 featuring the Mother Lode String Quartet. More information is available at Sonorabach.org. or by calling 209-536-6330.