Camas violist wins youth orchestra prize

Camas — Skyridge Middle School sixth-grader and violist Sophia Hansen has won a James Eoff Award from the Portland Youth Philharmonic and its conductor, Carol Sindell. The award is a full orchestra scholarship for one year for a musician who demonstrates “noticeable improvement, outstanding effort and commitment to the orchestra.” Sophia also plays for students at the Washington State School for the Blind and has spent three summers busking for the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society at the Camas Farmers Market. She is studying with Joel Kennedy of Kennedy Violins in Vancouver and hopes to play with a professional orchestra one day.