Two Vancouver Island teenagers will play the concert of their lives next month as the featured young soloists at the Victoria Symphony Splash.
Victoria's Eric Manning, 17, and Campbell River's Carter Johnson, 16, both pianists, will perform in front of an expected 45,000 people on a barge in the Inner Harbour Aug. 4.
Symphony maestra and music director Tania Miller introduced the duo to the public at the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour Hotel last week, and said each year she's humbled and amazed by the many people who travel to Victoria for Canada's most popular symphony concert.
"There's a real sense of community and positive spirit at Splash that defines Victoria," she said.
Johnson, who is also an accomplished actor and public speaker, is the first young soloist selected from outside the Capital Region, Miller said.
Manning, a Lighthouse Christian Academy graduate, has also seen early success. He won B.C.'s Provincial Music Festival in 2010 and was chosen to perform for Lieut. Gov.'s Stephen Point's farewell gala at Government house last year.
The event is also a chance to donate to the Victoria Symphony, and this year organizers are introducing mobile giving for the first time.
For more information, visit victoriasymphony.ca/splash.
The 24th Victoria Symphony Splash activities, Aug. 4:
• 1 to 4 p.m. - Splash Family Zone on the Fairmont Empress grounds. Activities include an instrument petting zoo, crafts and face painting.
• 7:30 p.m. - A symphony-led rendition of O Canada kicks off the program. Performance highlights include Holst's Mars, Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra and the Canadian Scottish Regiment's rendition of Amazing Grace.
• 10 p.m. - Fireworks display and cannon-firing to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.