Bethany Radtke, a homeschooled high school junior, started playing cello at the age of twelve. She began her studies with Marion Turner and now continues with Mary Beth Tyndall. Bethany enjoys performing and has won top prizes in many local competitions, including placing first in the chamber divisions of the TMTA Merit Scholarship Auditions and the COT Young Artists’ Competition, as well as placing first in the Tucson Cello Congress Competition, second in the SASO Youth Competition, and most recently first in the solo Sr. Strings division of the COT Young Artists’ Competition.

In addition to solo and chamber music, Bethany loves playing orchestral works. She is the current principal cellist of the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra. As she finishes her high school studies, Bethany plans to continue competing and performing. In her spare time, she enjoys a range of activities including sewing, gardening, and horseback riding.

She will perform movement 3 of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 at the Pops concert at Reid Park in Tucson on Sunday, May 3, 2020.