The chance to be accompanied by a full orchestra during a solo concerto is an opportunity usually only reserved for the Midoris and Yo Yo Mas of the world.

Thanks to the efforts of Iowa State’s new director of orchestral activities, Mark Laycock, this chance has been given to ISU music students.

When Laycock was planning the orchestra calendar for the 1998/1999 year, he decided to reinstate the concerto competition as one of the symphony’s activities.

The rules for the competition would be simple: any ISU student involved in private lessons would be given the opportunity to compete, and three winners would be chosen. As a reward, the winners would be given the honor of performing their pieces accompanied by the symphony.

“I thought it would be a wonderful way to show our talent to the rest of the university and Ames,” Laycock said. “It’s a rare opportunity to be able to perform with an orchestra, and [this competition] is a wonderful way of rewarding the more talented and hardworking students.”

After Laycock announced his plans for the competition, the response from music students was overwhelming. But out of the 25 students who were interested in trying out, only three would be selected for the performance.

Laycock said in order to narrow the search, the different musicians competed at the “divisional level.” The divisional contests condensed the group to 15 finalists: three string players, three vocalists, three woodwind players, three brass and percussion players and three pianists.

In order to insure that the competition would be judged without bias, two Drake University faculty members (orchestra conductor John Canarina and cello professor Julie McGinnis) were asked to judge the final competition in November.

Though Laycock said it was a difficult decision, the judges finally chose three winners — violinist Ujjani Mitra, pianist Luke Foster and vocalist Katie Witten.

Winning such a contest was quite a reward for all three performers, especially since all three had been working toward the perfection of their pieces for over a semester.

Foster, a freshman in biology/pre-dentistry with a minor in music, said he has been working on his piece, Camille Saint-Saens’ “Piano Concerto No. 4,” since last year.

“I started working on this piece last year during my senior year of high school, when I took piano lessons at UNI,” Foster said. “I used the piece to compete in lots of competitions last year.”

After working diligently on their pieces, it’s a thrill for the performers to be accompanied by an orchestra.

Mitra, a junior in chemical engineering with a minor in music, said the orchestra’s accompaniment of her during her performance of Edouard Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole,” completes the piece.

“[The orchestra] really adds a lot,” Mitra said. “It’s interesting because sometimes the orchestra seems to have a mind of its own.”

The soloists aren’t the only ones who have had to adjust to the solo/orchestra situation — Laycock said the orchestra members have been learning from the experience as well.

“It’s exciting [for the orchestra members] to be able to collaborate with a colleague,” Laycock said. “And the soloists are so well prepared, it’s a pleasure to be able to make music with them.”

In addition to Mitra’s and Foster’s pieces, Witten will sing “Nobles Seigneurs, salut!” from Les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer, and the symphony will perform “Symphony No. 1 in C Major” by Beethoven and Michael Torke’s “Bright Blue Music.”

The three winners of the concerto competition will perform with the Iowa State Symphony Friday night at 7:30 at the Martha-Ellen Tye Recital Hall in the Music Hall. Admission is $3.