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Chloe Lee, an 11th grader at the National Cathedral School, captured first place in the James Bland Music Competition during a Feb. 23 celebration at the Lyceum.

Lee, who has played the viola for about two years, performed William Walton’s Viola Concerto. She said the event offered a sense of community she had not found at other competitions and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to participate.

Satchit Mainali, an 11th grader at Thomas Jefferson High School, earned second place. The violinist performed Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso,” Op. 28.

Third place went to Colleen Duggar Munoz, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School, for her performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor.

“It takes a lot of courage and a lot of work to get to this point, to come here and play in front of a live audience,” judge Osman Kivrak said.

The other judges were Ronal Butler, a former board chair of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, and Teri Lazar, a violinist with the National Gallery of Art String Quartet.

Traditionally held during Black History Month, the competition honors African American musician and composer James Bland. His works include “Oh Dem Golden Slippers” and “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” which served as Virginia’s state song from 1940 to 1997.

The Lions-sponsored Bland Foundation has provided performance opportunities and scholarships for gifted vocal and instrumental students since 1948. Its program is open to qualifying elementary, junior high and high school students sponsored by a Virginia Lions Club.

The State Bland Committee distributes more than $25,000 annually through scholarships and cash awards at the local, district, regional and state levels.

Local sponsors included the Concerned Citizens Network of Alexandria, the Foundation for the Advancement of Music Education, State Farm agent Rodney M. Louis, the Page 1 Foundation and Greene Funeral Home.