Mario Ynga Orellana is a sophomore at Walnut Hills High School. Raised in Mexico, Spain and Germany, he grew up surrounded by music through his family traditions from Bolivia. After exploring piano and accordion, he discovered the clarinet, drawn to its elegance and the colors in music written for the instrument by French turn-of-the-century composers. He is the principal clarinetist of the OMEA All-State Band, a CSYO Norman E. Johns Chair awardee and an Overture Awards finalist with the Cincinnati Arts Association. He studies with Dr. Laura Sabo. Besides music, Orellana is a mathematics enthusiast and the proud older brother of twins.