Christina Leach, 18, is a senior in high school and has been playing violin for 12 years. Throughout high school, Christina has served leadership positions such as concertmaster for her school orchestra, first violin for her highschool’s String Quartet, Principal second violin in GCYO Young Artist Orchestra (YAO), Assistant concertmaster in YAO, concertmaster in YAO, and SCMEA 2023 All- State concertmaster. In addition to these roles, Christina was chosen to perform the Mendelssohn concerto with YAO, performed the Mendelssohn concerto with the Masterworks Festival orchestra after finishing as one of the winners in the concerto competition, won 2nd place in OPUS state level competition with a Mozart concerto, 2nd place in the 2022- 2023 MTNA String Senior Division Competition for South Carolina, finished as a finalist in the Augusta Symphony concerto competition, and won first prize in the New York Classical Music competition. Junior year, Christina began going to the Fine Arts Center to study chamber music with Jennifer John through the use of masterclasses and numerous performance opportunities.
Carter Saccocio, 18, is a cellist and senior at the Fine Arts Center. He regularly performs in small chamber ensembles and paid gigs for various employers. He is valedictorian of his senior class and hopes to pursue medicine while studying music in his undergraduate. Carter loves the mountains and his pets, and he is passionate about volunteering in his community.
Joshua Acree, 15, is a sophomore in high school and has been playing the piano for 10 years. He studies classical and jazz piano at the Fine Arts Center under Jennifer John and Steve Watson. He has performed on six winner’s recitals at annual BJU music camps, where he has performed pieces such as Khachaturian’s Toccata, Ginastera’s Suite de danzas criollas, and Ravel’s Alborada del Gracioso. He performed Bach’s Piano Concerto in D minor in the spring of 2023, and plans to enter the GCYO Concerto Competition with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. He also performed the Mendelssohn Trio in D minor during Fall 2023 as part of his studies in the Chamber Music program at the Fine Arts Center. He has served as principal second violin in three GCYO orchestras, and is currently a part of the first violin section of the Young Artist Orchestra. Joshua loves performing with friends, and hopes to continue playing for years to come!
This piano trio was formed during the 23-24 school year as a part of the FAC Chamber Music program. The group has already performed the Mendelssohn trio and plans to perform the Shostakovich Piano Trio in E minor later this year.
You can find the trio’s 2023 Romantic Music Competition performance here.