music awards

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Composer Asha Srinivasan Wins International Competition

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Asha Srinivasan

Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Music Asha Srinivasan has been awarded first-place honors for her flute and cello composition “Dviraag” in the Flute New Music Consortium’s 2014 international composition competition.

“Dviraag” was selected the winner from more than 250 entries from composers in more than 20 countries. The work previously won the 2011 Thailand International Composition competition.

FNMC members will be invited to perform Srinivasan’s award-winning work at recitals and concerts throughout the coming year.

“From my perspective as a composer, the fact that many flutists, most of whom I will not have met, will have access and will be invited to perform my work means that my music will reach a wider audience,” said Srinivasan, who also received a $250 prize for winning the competition.

“Dviraag” is included on the CD “Millennial Masters Vol. 4” by Ablaze Records and also can be heard on SoundCloud.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2015 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence University Students Earn Musical Accolades

Alto saxophonist Joe Connor ’15

Lawrence University student saxophonist Joe Connor won first-place honors Oct. 20 in the college division at the Green Bay Civic Orchestra’s 2012 Miroslav Pansky Memorial Concerto Competition. A sophomore from Oregon, Wis., and the only saxophonist in the competition, Connor received a $500 cash award.

He will reprise his winning performance of Darius Mihoud’s “Scaramouche” in a Feb. 16, 2013 concert with the Green Bay Civic Orchestra.  The Pansky competition is open to vocalists and orchestral instrumentalists through the age of 21 from Northeast Wisconsin.

Earlier this year, Connor performed as guest artist with the Lakeshore Wind Ensemble after earning second-place honors in the 24th annual Lakeshore Wind Ensemble Young Artist Competition held last November in Manitowoc. He is a student of Professor of Music Steven Jordheim.

Tubist Trevor Litsey, a junior from Birmingham, Ala., earned second-place honors in the Pansky competition for his performance of Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Concerto in F minor for Tuba.” He is a student of Instructor of Music Marty Erickson.

The Pansky competition is open to vocalists and orchestral instrumentalists through the age of 21 from Northeast Wisconsin.

Dan O’Connor ’13

Daniel O’Connor, a senior from Dallas, Texas, has been awarded $3,000 for winning the 2012 Ruth and Paul Manz Organ Scholarship. The national competition is conducted via submitted recorded audition.

Conducted annually since 1992, the Manz scholarship was established by Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minn., to honor 37 years of service of Paul and Ruth Manz to the congregation.

The Manz scholarship is the latest among numerous awards O’Connor has earned for his musicianship, including:

• first-place honors in the 2009 American Guild of Organists’ regional competition for young organists in Albuquerque, N.M.

• first-place honors in the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists’ 2010 young artists organ regional competition in Minneapolis, Minn.

• first-place honors in the 2011 Wisconsin National Federation of Music Clubs’ Biennial Student/Collegiate Competition.

He is a student of university organist Kathrine Handford.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,450 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

Pianists, Saxophonist Share Top Honors in State Music Competition

Lawrence University student musicians accounted for three of the five winners at the 15th annual Neale-Silva Young Artists competition held March 27 in Madison.

Pianists Marshall Cuffe and David Keep and saxophonist Sumner Truax shared top honors with trumpet player Ansel Norris, a senior at Madison East High School and clarinetist Matthew Griffith, a senior at Sheboygan North High School, in the state competition sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio.   Each received $400 for their winning performances.

This was the fifth straight year and 10th time in the past 12 years that Lawrence students have won or shared top honors in the Neale-Silva event.

The competition is open to instrumentalists and vocal performers 17-26 years of age who are either from Wisconsin or attend a Wisconsin college.  Lawrence musicians accounted for seven of the competition’s 13 finalists, who were selected from 15 entrants. In addition to the three winners, also advancing to the finals were pianists Laura Hauer, Dario LaPoma and Karly Stern, and oboist Cayden Milton.

Cuff, Keep and Truax will reprise their winning performances Sunday, April 11 at 12:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Union Theater in Madison.  The concert will be broadcast live statewide on the Classical Music Network of WPR and can be heard locally at 89.3 FM.

For the April 11 concert, Cuffe, a sophomore from Salem, Ore., will perform Bach’s Chromatic Fantasy” and “Fantasy on Themes from Wizard of Oz” by William Hirtz while Keep, a junior from Traverse City, Mich., will play three movements from Alberto Ginastera’s“Sonata No. 1.” Both are students in the studio of Anthony Padilla.

Truax, a junior from Chicago, Ill., will perform “Buku”by Jacob Ter Veldhuis and “Tableaux De Provence I, II & III”by Paule Maurice.  He studies with Steven Jordheim and Sara Kind, a 2004 and 2006 Neale-Silva Young Artist winner herself.

The Neale-Silva Young Artists’ Competition was established to recognize young Wisconsin performers of classical music who demonstrate an exceptionally high level of artistry.  It is supported by a grant from the estate of the late University of Wisconsin Madison professor Eduardo Neale-Silva, a classical music enthusiast who was born in Talca, Chile and came to the United States in 1925.

Lawrence University Pianist Qualifies for National Competition

Leonard Hayes, a junior from Dallas, Texas, qualified for the national finals of the 2010 National Association of Negro Musicians Scholarship Competition in Piano after winning the NANM regional competition March 20 at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Ark.

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Leonard Hayes

For winning the regional event, Hayes received an all-expense paid trip to the national competition July 25-28 in Colorado Springs, Colo. He will be of five regional winners competing in the national finals. Hayes advanced to the NANM regional as the winner of the local Dallas competition.

For both the local and regional auditions, Hayes performed movements from Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Op. 7, George Walker’s Piano Sonata No. 2 and Cesar Franck Poco’s Allegro and Fugue. He is a student in the piano studio of Catherine Kautsky.

Founded in 1919 and based in Chicago, the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is the country’s oldest organization dedicated to the preservation, encouragement and advocacy of all genres of the music of African Americans. During its 90-year history, NANM has provided encouragement and support to thousands of African American musicians, many of whom have become widely respected figures in music and have contributed significantly to American culture and music history.