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When she and her brother were younger , Alexandra Switala said she remembers sitting quietly through symphonies for the jelly beans her mother passed her.

This weekend, the 14-year- old vi­olin player played for a more pres­tigious prize. At the 49th annual Sorantin competition hosted by the San An­gelo Symphony, Alexandra and her 16-year- old brother, Robert, were among the 52 musicians compet­ing for the chance to win thousands in prize money and a spot with the symphony in a February show. Both began playing violin 10 years ago, and practice four to five hours a day. Alexandra said if not, her fin­gers feel “off.”

“ They next day it feels like a block of wood,” she said referring to her instrument. “ Normally it feels like a part of your arm.”

Although Robert did not make the preliminary round, which in­cluded five string players and four pianists, he did show up to join his mother, Lupe , to support Alexan­dra .

Four judges, two for each division, spent the weekend hearing musi­cians from some of the world’s top music schools — such as Juilliard , the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Yale University — and deciding who shone among the rest.

Jennifer Odom, the symphony’s executive director, said the judges were active musicians or univer­sity professors, or both.

“ We need to see if they’re per­formance- ready ... and if they can withstand the stress of an audience watching them,” Odom said. “ It’s a different environment from a prac­tice room.”

Symphony officials pro­vided a piano accompanist for everyone to rehearse with Thursday before Fri­day’s first round of perfor­mances.

Saturday night finals al­lowed 30 minutes for each competitor.

During preliminaries, each string musician was given 20 minutes to play a concerto, a three- part musi­cal piece, and an unaccompa­nied solo.

Odom said most of the mu­sicians enter different com­petitions and often recognize one another.

“ In a way, they’re recon­nected,” she said. “ It’s nice for us too. It feels like we get to know them. Ten to 20 per­cent that come one year re­turn.”

One musician here for the first time, and one who ad­vanced to the final round, was Russian native Anna Bulkina , who is studying at Texas Christian University this year. She said Friday was more nerve- wracking, but most of it wore off for Saturday’s preliminary round.

While she enjoyed meet­ing new people, the 22-year­old pianist also liked seeing old friends.

“I meet my Russian friends here,” she said. “ They study in different universities in the U. S.”

Since Alexandra was the first to perform Saturday, she and her mother woke up at 5: 30 a. m. to have time to get ready and warm up.

Nerves were not much of an issue for Alexandra ei­ther, she said, because many of the competitors were older and more experienced.

“ They’re all college- aged here,” she said. “ I went into it thinking I’m not going to place.”