WINTER CLASSICS features 2026 Young Artist Competition Winners

The Hays Symphony will present its “Winter Classics” concert on Saturday, February 21,

2026, in the FHSU Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.

The evening will highlight the winners of the Hays Symphony 2026 Young Artist Competition. Additionally, concert goers will get to enjoy a series of festive dances from the orchestra: famed polkas by Johann Strauss Il and Josef Strauss, Coleridge-Taylor's energetic Danse Nègre, and Arturo Marquez's powerful and pulsating La Conga del Fuego Nuevo.

This year, three soloists will perform with the orchestra: violinist Samantha Zimmerman, mezzo-soprano Alison Walker, and trumpet player Dawson McNeal.

Samantha Zimmerman, violin, is a senior pursuing a major in biology, a minor in music, and a GIS certificate. She is involved in various ensembles, with violin being her main instrument. After graduation, Zimmerman plans to pursue a career in natural resources or environmental science while following her passion for music and playing in a surrounding symphony.

Zimmerman will perform the first movement of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, op. 22. Watch a short interview with Samantha on Instagram (Click here!)

Alison Walker, mezzo-soprano, is a sophomore at FHSU studying vocal performance under Dr. Elisa Ramon. She is part of many groups within the fine arts, including concert choir, marching band, Fort Hays Singers, NATS, and NAFME. In the future, she sees herself pursuing a master’s in performance and possibly becoming a teacher in Kansas or in her home state of Nebraska.

Walker will perform “Anzoleta Avanti la Regata” from La Regata Veneziana. Watch a short interview with Alison on Instagram (Click here!)

Dawson McNeal, trumpet, is from Holyrood, Kansas, and graduated from Central Plains High School in 2022. He is currently student teaching at Hays Middle / High School and completing a degree in music education at FHSU. He will graduate this spring with a bachelor’s in music education and a minor in military science and leadership. This spring, he will also commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

McNeal will perform Kevin McKee's Centennial Horizon. Watch a short interview with Dawson on Instagram (Click here!)

The concert is sponsored by the FHSU Tebo Library. Following the performance, audience members and musicians are invited to mingle in the lobby's post-concert reception sponsored by a donation from Janis and Lyn Lee.

Lastly, this event would not be possible without the support of the Hays Symphony's 2025-26 season sponsors: the Riley Family Foundation, the Robert E. Browning Foundation, and an anonymous Ellis County family.

Free tickets to all concerts can be reserved on the Hays Symphony website: https://www.hayssymphony.org/.