After years of practices, two Loyola music performance students have won the opportunity to show off their talent and hard work.

Violinist Shana Bey, junior, and vocalist Kate Fleming, senior, will perform with the Loyola Symphony Orchestra this Sunday as soloists.

Bey and Fleming auditioned for the annual concerto/aria concert during November against 20 Loyola musicians in front of a panel consisting of music professors at Loyola.

“The audience consisted of faculty, the room was completely silent, there was no applause or comments,” Bey said.

Bey simply walked off stage after her performance. It was not until the next day that people were congratulating her that she realized she had won the competition and the chance to perform in the Montage series.

Bey will be performing the first movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto – a piece she has worked on for more than a year.

“I hope to do the piece justice. I have been working on it for over a year,” Bey said.

Fleming will perform “Alleluia” from Exsulate Jubilate, her favorite piece, which she has worked on for two years. She will also perform “Der Holle Rache” from “Die Zauberflote” by Mozart. The orchestra will be accompanying the two soloists.

For both of the women music has always been a huge part of their lives and both have a great passion for it. Bey, who grew up in Houston, attended schools dedicated to the arts all her life, including Houston High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Love for music runs in —-the Bey family. Her mother has a passion for the violin, and her older siblings played the instrument while growing up.

As a child, Fleming said she spent time pretending she was Ariel or Belle from Disney movies. Fleming tried several musical outlets looking for her passion.

Fleming played the piano in fifth grade and the trumpet at St. Martin High School in Ocean Springs, Miss. She was involved in community theatre with chorus roles and worked her way up to major roles. She finally took voice lessons her sophomore year of high school, and the love was so intense that she said she knew she was made to sing.

Bey and Fleming have been involved with numerous music opportunities.

Bey attended Brevard Music Center, an annual music festival summer program in Brevard, N.C. She said that being coached by teachers who are part of string quartets from all over the country was an amazing experience, and she credited these coaches for helping her to perfect her performance.

Fleming has enjoyed singing with the New Orleans Opera since her freshman year. She will be graduating in May and is looking forward to hearing from grad schools.

“I plan on perfecting myself as a whole package from auditioning, getting roles and ultimately doing what I love – performing as a career,” Fleming said.

Fleming said that the entire process from the time she competed to get the role for the Montage series until the present has been beyond her expectations. She said that by the grace of God she was up for the challenge and that it is rewarding to see all the hard work actually pay off.

The Loyola Symphony Orchestra will also perform Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” and the Russian Easter Overture by Rimsky-Korsakow.

Anita Oubre can be reached at [email protected].