**Junior Division Finalist, Violin, 13**

**Zigeunerweisen Op. 20**
**P. Sarasate**

Asher Lewis is an eighth grader at Roosevelt Middle School in Eugene. He began his violin studies at age six, and is a student of Kara Eubanks at the Willamette Violin Academy. In January 2023, he was concertmaster of the Oregon All-State Middle School Orchestra. He received an Honorable Mention for his performance in the OMTA Baroque Festival in February 2023. He has enjoyed performing at the ORASTA Honor’s Recital and in the honor’s recital at the Japan-Seattle Suzuki Institute in 2022. In addition to Japan-Seattle, he has attended institutes at Stanford and Steven’s Point, Wisconsin. Asher has lived in several places, including Texas, Minnesota, and Oxford, England. Beyond music, Asher is an avid reader, and enjoys playing sports of all kinds, including basketball, ultimate frisbee, soccer, and track.

If you could only eat one dessert for the rest of your life, what would it be? Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Flying, of course.

What is one thing we would never guess about you? I have Ds and Cs in school! Just kidding, only in art.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, which composer or piece of music would you bring? Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Where is the most wonderful place you’ve ever been? On a mountain glacier near Denali in Alaska.