Student Accolades
Honors and Awards from 2012-2013
Gregory Wang ’13 and Chelsea de Souza ’15, piano students of Peter Takács, both took prizes at competitions this academic year. Wang won an impressive second prize at the 2013 Music Teachers National Association Young Artist National Competition in Anaheim, Calif. De Souza won first prize at Akron’s Tuesday Musical Association Scholarship Competition, a state-level award known as the Marguerite Thomas and Gertrude Lancaster Scholarship for Piano.
Pianist Lishan Xue ’13 won second prize at the 40th National Arts Piano Competition in Midland, Texas, in January. Last fall she traveled to Venezuela to perform with the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra under the direc- tion of José Antonio Abreu in Caracas. The concert was held in Simón Bolivar Hall and organized and presented by the Fundación Musical Simón Bolivar, commonly known as “El Sistema.”
Katelyn Emerson ‘15 was one of three winners of the North American Round of the Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition, which took place at the University of Kansas at Lawrence in April. Katelyn received a stipend to cover her travel to the finals of the competition in Kaliningrad, Russia, to be held in September 2013.
All of Oberlin’s organ majors who competed this spring in the American Guild of Organists (AGO)/Quimby Regional Competitions for Young Organists took first prize in their chapter-level competitions. They will compete this summer in their AGO regional competitions. Congratulations go to Jennifer Bower ‘14 (St. Louis Chapter), Nick Capozzoli ‘15 (Pittsburgh), Alcee Chriss ‘15 (Dallas), Jillian Gardner ‘15 (Buffalo), Jennifer McPherson MM ‘15 (Boston), Mitchell Miller ‘16 (Cleveland), Justin Murphy- Mancini ‘13 (Hartford), and Jessica Park ‘14 (Minneapolis/St. Paul).
Soprano Emily Peragine ’14 performed the role of Mabel in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzancein March 2013 with the Glacier Symphony and Chorale in Kalispell, Mont.
Eli Stine ’14, a TIMARA and computer science double- degree student with a minor in music composition, submitted his work, Life, to the 60x60 Voice project, which was created for the International Sound Art Festival in Berlin. His piece was chosen for the concert, which took place in October 2012 at the Mitte Museum in Berlin. Stine’s new commission from the Akropolis Reed Quintet was premiered on May 17 in Detroit as part of the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings concert season. To round out a stellar year, Stine was selected for an artist residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. He spent three weeks in May composing and studying with electro-acoustic composer Judith Shatin.
TIMARA major Paulus Van Horne ’16 was selected as one of four composers for the 2013 Young & Emerging Electronic Music performance with Verb Ballets and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. Young composers and students throughout Ohio submitted original electronic works to be considered for inclusion; once the four compositions were selected, Verb Ballets choreographers were assigned to craft companion dance pieces to the chosen works. Van Horne’s piece started out merely as an experiment with FM synthesis, but once he started time stretching and manipulating shifting poly- rhythms, the experiment turned into a fully-realized composition with changing, varying speeds— allowing freedom and flexibility in tempo rates for the dancers and choreographers to follow. The performances were held in March at Cleveland Public Theatre.
Violists Aaron Mossburg ’13 and Daniel Orsen ’16 both won their divisions at the 2013 American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition, sweeping the viola category. The final round was held in April at the Kaufman Center’s Merkin Hall in New York City. Oberlin was the only conser- vatory to have finalists in two divisions. Mossburg (in the senior division) and Orsen (junior divi- sion) were each among three viola finalists. Orsen and Mossburg are both students of Peter Slowik.
Justin Murphy-Mancini ’13 (BA in philosophy, BMUS degrees in composition and organ performance, and a MM in historical performance ‘14) is this year’s Oberlin recipient of the Theodore Presser Graduate Music Award, which provides funds for an ambitious summer project. He will study organ, harpsichord, and composition with a variety of well- known composers, both privately in England and Germany, and at the prestigious Schloss Solitude Summer Academy near Stuttgart, Germany. A further aspect of this project involves a performance tour in the Netherlands with fellow composer and pianist Eugene Kim ‘12. At Oberlin, Murphy-Mancini studies composition with Joshua Levine, organ with James David Christie, and harpsichord with Webb Wiggins.
Rachel Grandstrand ’13 and Asher Butnik ’13 traveled to Cincinnati with Jennifer Fraser, conservatory associate professor of ethnomusicology and anthropology, in April to present papers at the Midwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology conference. Presenters included renowned faculty, independent scholars, graduate students, and a select few undergraduates.
Grandstrand, a cello and music history double major, presented a version of her music history honors project, “The Performance and Perception of Identities in Country-Rap Music,” on the sociological reading of country-rap and the ways in which the subgenre negotiates and incorporates concepts of “authenticity” and “genre” as related to country and hip-hop music.
Butnik, a double major in gender, sexuality, and feminist studies and musical studies with a concentration in ethnomusicology, focused on the uses of queer theory and Peircean semiotics, or theory of signs, to read several popular hits. This was a version of his senior capstone project “Heard and Not Seen: The Child in Euro-American Pop Music.”
The event was an impressive feat by both, being accepted as undergraduates among professionals in the field. Both received excellent feedback from senior colleagues at the conference, and Butnik’s experience solidified his interest in pursuing graduate study.
Annual Conservatory of Music Honors & Awards
Students’ names appear followed by their major field of study.
The Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts
Awarded to a graduating senior who has performed with uncommon distinction in music performance: Gregory Wang ’13 (Piano Performance)
The Walter E. Aschaffenburg Prize
Awarded to a graduating senior for outstanding music composition: Yuxin Ouyang ’13 (Composition)
The Ruth Cogan Memorial Scholarship in Vocal Performance
Awarded to outstanding voice majors who have dedicated significant time to the Otto B. Schoepfle Vocal Arts Center: Robert McGinness ’13 (Voice Performance)
The Arthur Dann Senior Piano Competition
Awarded to the winner of this juried competition for excellence in piano performance: Shihui Yin ’14 (Piano Performance)
The John Elvin Piano Prize
Awarded to a student judged by the piano department to be the most talented in the junior class: Joseph Hauer ’14 (Piano Performance)
The Louis and Marguerite Bloomberg Greenwood Prize
Awarded to a graduating student excelling in cello, piano, violin, or voice: Marguerite Jones ’13 (Voice Performance)
The James H. Hall Prize in Music History
Awarded to a graduating senior for excellence in work in musicology: Rachel Grandstrand ’13 (Cello Performance and Music History)
The Selby Harlan Houston Prize
Awarded to a graduating senior whose performance in organ and music theory is of distinguished quality: Wesley Hall ’13 (Organ Performance and Historical Keyboard Instrument Performance, Master of Music in Historical Performance)
The Faustina Hurlbutt Prize
Awarded to an outstanding graduating student in cello, piano, violin, or voice: Wyatt Underhill ’13 (Violin Performance)
The Louis and Annette Kaufman Prize in Piano
Awarded to a piano student showing the most progress in chamber music: Joseph Hauer ’14 (Piano Performance)
The Louis and Annette Kaufman Prize in Violin
Awarded to an outstanding student of violin: Wyatt Underhill ’13 (Violin Performance)
The Carol Nott Piano Pedagogy Prize
Awarded to an outstanding graduating senior for continued study in piano pedagogy: Shuyi Guan ’13 (Piano Performance)
The Pi Kappa Lambda Prize for Musicianship
Awarded to a student judged to be the most outstanding of those elected to Pi Kappa Lambda: Alexa Ciciretti ’13 (Cello Performance) and Wyatt Underhill ‘13 (Violin Performance)
The Theodore Presser Graduate Music Award
Awarded to an outstanding returning graduate student for the furtherance of his musical education and career: Justin Murphy-Mancini ’13 (Organ Performance, Composition, and Philosophy, returning with Master of Music in Historical Keyboard Instrument Performance)
The Theodore Presser Undergraduate Scholarship
Awarded to an outstanding returning double-degree student for excellence in musicianship and liberal arts study: Aaron Keeney ’14 (Voice Performance and Chemistry)
The Earl L. Russell Award in Historical Performance
Awarded to a worthy student majoring in Historical Performance to assist with the purchase of a musical instrument: Justin Murphy-Mancini ’13 (Organ Performance, Composition, and Philosophy, returning with Master of Music in Historical Keyboard Instrument Performance)
The Rudolf Serkin Scholarship
Awarded to a student demonstrating excellence in piano performance: Wei (Amy) Shi ’14 (Piano Performance)
The Margot Bos Stambler ‘84 Professional Development Award
Awarded to an outstanding voice major of great promise to enhance career opportunities: Robert McGinness ’13 (Voice Performance)
The James “Jimmy” Stamp Award
Awarded to the most improved trumpet player: John Davison ’13 (Trumpet Performance)
The Ernest Hatch Wilkins Memorial Prize
Awarded to a returning student who has demonstrated academic excellence in the three preceding years: Carrie Frey ’14 (Viola Performance),
The Conservatory Initiative Grants Supporting Imagination and Excellence (CIGSIE)
Carrie J. Frey ’14 (Viola Performance), Myra A. Hinrichs ’13 (Violin Performance and Mathematics), Caroline E. Little ’15 (Flute Performance), Helen P. Newby ’13 (Cello Performance), and Crispin P. Swank ’14 (Classical Guitar Performance)
The Avedis Zildjian Conservatory Percussion Award
Awarded to a continuing percussion major in recognition of outstanding performance skills: Benjamin Rempel ’15 (Percussion Performance)
Piano Faculty Prize in Accompanying
Awarded to a graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence in accompanying singers and instrumentalists: Ann Schaefer ’13 (Piano Performance)
2013 Phi Beta Kappa Society Initiates Zeta Chapter of Ohio, Oberlin College
Conservatory double-degree students Julia Chen (Psychology and Jazz Piano), Charles Colwell (Biology and Cello), Matthew Gold (Jazz Guitar and History), and Luke Lovett (TIMARA and Computer Science)