Westmont Musicians Sweep PASF Competition

Westmont student musicians swept the top three instrumental honors April 30 at the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation finals. Junior Erik Fauss (viola) won first place ($5,000), Senior Lalia Mangione (violin) won second place and junior Tim Beccue (cello) won third place.

“In their early 20s, these were the youngest competitors in the finals,” says Michael Shasberger, Westmont Adams professor of music and worship. “The rest of the competitors were master’s degree and doctoral students at UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and other top graduate programs.”

Fauss of Santa Rosa was a finalist in the Westmont Music Guild Competition in 2014. Fauss, who was born in Germany, is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda national honors societies. He performed Allegro Moderto from “Viola Concerto” by Bela Bartok.

Mangione from Grand Rapids, Michigan, has worked with nearly every music program in Santa Barbara. In 2016, she won third place with PASF. In 2013, she won Westmont’s Music Guild Competition. She graduates as the Outstanding Senior in Music and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda. She performed “Tzigane” by Maurice Ravel.

Beccue of Westlake Village won the Music Guild Competition in 2014. In 2015, he won PASF Honorable Mention. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. He played “Pezzo Capriccioso, Op. 62” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

In 2015, Westmont instrumentalists won first (Aaron Wilk, piano), second (Rebecca Shasberger, cello) and fourth (Lalia Mangione, violin).

Established in 1982, the PASF provides financial support to music students studying in the Santa Barbara area who demonstrate strong professional potential.