Singer-songwriter and Shady Side Academy eighth grader Sloane Simon is the winner of the "Little Green" Young Artist Competition, sponsored by the Myasthenia Gravis Association of Western Pennsylvania (MGA).

MGA sponsored the contest in connection with its upcoming concert, Miles of Aisles: A 75^th Birthday Tribute to Joni Mitchell, on Friday, Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. at the Hard Rock Café in Pittsburgh.

"Joni Mitchell has been a big influence to me as a young musician and songwriter, since the moment I heard California for the first time. I was 8 years old. I cannot count how many guitar strings I have broken with Joni's crazy, genius tuning," Simon says.

Simon has played in many Pittsburgh venues and, at 13 years old, was the youngest performer to play the Three Rivers Arts Festival in 2018.

Simon began playing guitar when she was 8 years old, after her mother was diagnosed with aggressive spinal cancer. Until that point, she had been studying piano but wanted an instrument that would allow her to always be by her mother's side. She wrote and recorded her first song when she was 9 about being brave when you are scared. Her mother is healthy now, and Simon continues to use her guitar to narrate her journey through life's challenges and celebrations.

Congratulations, Sloane!

Check out some of Sloane's performances on her official Facebook page!