Award-winning fiddle phenom Rosie Carson, 12, of Clifton, won first place for her age group in the Midwest Fleadh, an Irish fiddle competition held in May at the Drawbridge Inn, Fort Mitchell. She'll leave Wednesday for Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland, for a week of lessons with fiddle masters from all over the globe. Then she'll compete for the world championship.

Rosie will enter seventh grade at the School for Creative and Performing Arts this fall. She studies at Cincinnati's Riley School of Irish Music and plays classical violin with teacher Sylvia Mitchell, a member of the Cincinnati Symphony.

Paavo and the press

The Austrian press will be in Salzburg for a press conference with Cincinnati Symphony maestro Paavo Jarvi on Friday. The event will kick off the symphony's upcoming European tour, which begins in Vienna on Oct. 29. It also will highlight Jarvi's Salzburg Festival debut next week with his other orchestra - the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

Jarvi is also in the running for Gramophone magazine's Artist of the Year. The winner will be announced in September.

Janelle Gelfand