Lena Sytsma-Reed has been principal cellist for the Dorothy Gerber Youth Orchestra for nine years. She took home the Grand Prize for the 2024 Charles F. Davis Young Artist Competition and was the featured soloist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra playing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 at Bay View’s John M. Hall Auditorium (2024). This fall, Lena begins her studies in Physics at the University of Michigan, where she plans to continue performing orchestral repertoire.

“There is power in music. The complex combinations of sounds, performed at different volumes and speeds, in different ways, with different articulations and warmth can stir emotion within both the listener and the creator. I love being able to take black and white notes from a page and turn them into colorful feelings like loyalty and love, pride and passion. I’m lucky that every day of my life is made vibrant by the power of music, and I believe that everyone deserves to experience the unmatched power and beauty that comes from experience shared through music. I am overjoyed I have the honor of creating music I love, in places I love, surrounded by love.”