Trevor Barroero will fulfill a childhood dream this Sunday. He is performing as a soloist on the stage of Centennial Hall.

An opportunity that few music students will ever get, performing on the grand stage is one of the perks of winning the annual University of Arizona Concerto Competition at the School of Music.

The winners are awarded the chance to select a piece of music and showcase it with the accompaniment of a 40 member orchestra.

Barroero, a sophomore percussionist, is among the four winners of this year’s competition, along with Natalia Duarte, Humberto Borboa and Jinny Huh. They will each perform at the 41st Annual President’s Concert on Sunday at 3 p.m.

“It’ll be nice to be in front of the orchestra,” Barroero said. “I’m so used to performing in the back.”

Barroero will be performing his piece on a marimba, a xylophone-like instrument that has deep cultural roots in Latin America.

Barroero was first introduced to the marimba in elementary school. He describes the instrument as having two sides: one that controls the tone of the music and one that keeps the rhythm of the beat.
“There are so many options in percussion,” Barroero said. “There is always a new instrument to learn.”

As a Tucson native, Barroero grew up with the musical culture of the city, and said has always been drawn to the prestige of Centennial Hall.

Barroero will be playing a contemporary piece composed by Emmanuel Séjourné, “Concerto for Marimba and Strings.” The material performed by all four soloists will range from Russian opera to Mexican pop. The President’s Concert will also feature a performance of Mozart’s overture to “Die Zauberflöte” by the School of Music’s Arizona Symphony Orchestra.

“Everyone in the audience will find something they enjoy,” Barroero said.

Barroero is also the winner of another Concerto Competition with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and will be performing with the ensemble in May.

Borboa, another of the Concerto Competition winners, said he is particularly looking forward to seeing how the audience will react to the sharp contrast between the two pieces he’ll be performing.

He hopes that his voice will correctly interpret the full range of emotions embedded in the text of his material.

The tenor from Mexico has spent months preparing for the performance, even seeking help from instructors in Department of Russian and Slavic Studies in mirroring the tough dialect for his piece from the opera, “Eugene Onegin.”

Even though he performs in concerts on a weekly basis at various Tucson venues, Borboa said that he still gets nervous before going onstage. He expects this Sunday’s performance to rouse the same amount of adrenaline, especially since he’ll be accompanied by a full orchestra.

“If we can learn how to accompany each other,” Borboa said, “then that’s when the magic happens.”

General admission to the concert is $10, or $5 for students. Tickets can be purchased through the College of Fine Arts box office.