By Khalida Sarwari
California has a new state junior ambassador, and his name is Ethan Cotta.
Ethan, who hails from Saratoga and will begin sixth grade at Redwood Middle School this fall, traded his previous title as the junior ambassador of Santa Clara County for the new one after competing in the 35th annual California State Youth Accolades Scholarship Competition finals. The precocious 10-year-old received a perfect score for his performance of an excerpt from the first movement from a Mendelssohn concerto.
For Ethan, the competition was a chance to share his music with others.
“That [was] really good because it will inspire lots of other young people to start playing instruments instead of just playing with toys all the time,” he said.
Sponsored by Youth Focus, the scholarship competition is held annually in cooperation with the California State Fair. This year’s program took place July 23 and 24 at the Santa Clara Convention Center and was the culmination of a week of leadership training, speech presentations and personal development workshops.
Over the course of the competition, contestants were judged on how well they answered an extemporaneous question on stage, the delivery of their speech and the presentation of their talent–which could be anything from singing, dancing or playing a musical instrument to spoken word performances, martial arts, art presentations and even aerial acrobatics.
“The point of the competition is to affirm young people in our community that they each have special and unique talents and that they have the potential to better their community,” said Kristina Stamper, a state entrance director and member of the Youth Focus board.
Ethan was one of 15 contestants; the others came from as far as Redding and Orange County and ranged in age from 9 to 22.
The two nonprofits conduct the statewide program to recognize and select outstanding youth to represent the California State Fair and the California Fair Industry as youth ambassadors throughout California. The program awarded $11,000 in educational scholarships to participants this year.
Ethan received the executive director’s trophy for this achievement and a $500 scholarship that he’ll be putting toward music lessons. He also won top awards at the Youth Focus talent competitions, and for two years served as concertmaster of the Galbraith Honor Strings for El Camino Youth Symphony.
Ethan plays both the piano and the violin. Though he started on the piano a year before the violin–at the ripe age of 4–he said he enjoys the latter more and enjoys playing pieces that are “hard but not impossible.”
Ethan spends two hours a day practicing the violin and is teaching his 6-year-old sister to play the instrument. He has two younger brothers who also play an instrument, and both of his parents are musicians.
Ethan’s achievements and interests extend beyond music and competitions. He enjoys robotics and was in the top 10 percent in Math Olympiad.
Robots “are fun and educational; it’s a good way to spend your time,” he said.
When he attended Argonaut Elementary School, Ethan was a member of the traffic patrol and played the king in a recent production of “Alice in Wonderland.” He is also on a competitive soccer team.
To learn more about Youth Focus and the California State Youth Accolades Scholarship Competition, visit youthfocusinc.org.
