Fourteen-year-old violin student Simone Porter, of Seattle, has been named a 2011 Davidson Fellow Laureate -- the prize is a $50,000 scholarship -- by the Reno-based Davidson Institute for Talent Development. Simone, who attends the Colburn Academy in Los Angeles, has been playing violin since she was 3 and has soloed with orchestras in Seattle, Olympia and Port Angeles, as well with the Royal Philharmonic; she was featured in the BBC documentary "The World's Greatest Musical Prodigies." According to a news release listing her many accomplishments, she also likes "Asian horror films, musician jokes, and performing for young audiences to introduce them to classical music."

Another Washington teen, Shalini Ramanan, 17, of Richland, won a $10,000 scholarship in the Davidson Fellowship science category.