Way to Go: Leah Stevens

Leah Stevens hit a personal high note last month when she was named first runner-up in an international music competition.

Stevens, a flutist and sophomore at East Islip High School, won the award in the woodwinds/

brass category of the 2011 International Music Competition hosted by the LISMA Foundation in Albertson. More than 400 students from nine countries competed.

Stevens submitted a recording of her performance of Francis Poulenc's "Sonata" and was selected along with 11 others to perform live for a panel of judges at the Long Island Conservatory of Music. There she played Eugene Bozza's "Image" and Frank Martin's "Ballade."

"I walked in there trying to have fun, and I thought I represented who I am as a player," said Leah, 15, who won $750. "I always push myself to do my best, and I felt like I did."

Leah has performed at Boston University's Tanglewood Institute, a summer festival for high schoolers; is a member of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra's Suffolk County chapter; and is in the Manhattan School of Music's philharmonic orchestra. Leah also is a member of her high school's symphony orchestra and wind ensemble.