URBANA — Senior Jennifer Roloff won her second major music contest in less than two months, earning first prize in the Young Baroque Artists Competition held Saturday at Smith Memorial Hall on the University of Illinois campus.

Roloff, a pupil of Michelle Stearns, won for her performance of two movements of Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in d minor. The competition is sponsored by the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH).

On Jan. 27, Roloff won the Gail & Harry Adams Young Artists Competition, held Jan. 27 at the St. James United Methodist Church in Danville.

She earned $500 for each of her first-place finishes.

Another Uni student, subfreshman Kathy Qiu, won third prize at the Young Baroque Artists Competition for her performance on the piano of Bach’s Toccata in e minor. Qiu, a student of Christos Tsitsaros, will receive $200.

Roloff, Qiu, and the other winners (Eric Kobel, flute; Samantha Schwartz, flute; Aaron
Schwartz, violin) will be invited to play at a BACH concert to be held 7:30 p.m. May 18 at St. John Lutheran Church, Champaign. Their prizes will be handed out at the event.

Tickets for the concert are $18 (senior $15, student $10) via info@baroquerartists.org or telephone (217-378-6802). For more information, visit the BACH site here.

In all, 16 student musicians participated in Saturday’s competition. Eight of them were from Uni:

• Katherine Buzard (sophomore), voice
  Purcell, The Fairy-Queen: “Thrice happy lovers”
  Bach, Cantata 61: “Offne dich”
  Bach, Magnificat: “Es exsultavit”

• Daniel Cheng (sophomore), piano
  Bach, English Suit No. 3: Prelude

• Danny Ge (sophomore), piano
  Bach, Invention No. 4 in d minor
  Bach, Well-Tempered Clavier II: Prelude and Fugue in d minor

• Noel Knox (junior), voice
  Purcell, “I’ll sail upon the dogstar”
  Handel, Serse: “Ombra mai fu”

• Diana Liu (sophomore), piano
  Bach, WTC II: Prelude and Fugue in e minor

• Kathy Qiu (subfreshman), piano
  Bach, Toccata in e minor

• Jennifer Roloff (senior), oboe
  Marcello, Concerto in d minor: 1. Andante e spiccato 2. Adagio

• Gordon Ruan (junior), piano
  Bach, WTC I: Prelude and Fugue in b-flat minor

Roloff will perform as a guest soloist Saturday at the Danville Symphony Orchestra’s third concert of the 2007-08 season. She was invited to appear with the DSO as winner of the Jan. 27 Young Artists Competition, which the DSO sponsors.

She will play the first movement of Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto.

The concert is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Main Performance Auditorium, Danville High School, 202 E. Fairchild. For directions, click here.

Tickets range from $10 for students to $23 for adults. They are available at the DSO office in Danville or by phone (217-443-5300).

“I’m really excited, because I have never been able to solo with an orchestra before,” Roloff said. “It’s a really wonderful opportunity.”