Shenandoah Conservatory is proud to announce the winners of the 2016 Student Soloists Competition on behalf of the 2016 Student Soloists Competition (SSC) committee!
Pictured left to right: William Kelley, piano; Annie Wong, piano; Victoria Okafor, soprano; Sarah Wofford, soprano; Benjamin DaCosta-Kaufman, tenor; Michael Puryear, cello; Jacob Moyer, clarinet; Kailbeth Chacín, violin
Category I – Undergraduate
Instrumental Division Winner
Michael Puryear, cello
Keyboard Division Winner
William Kelley, piano
Voice Division Winner
Benjamin DaCosta-Kaufman, tenor
Category II – Graduate
Instrumental Division Winner
Kailbeth Chacín, violin
Keyboard Division Winner
Annie Wong, piano
Voice Division Winner
Sarah Wofford, soprano
Honorable Mention
Jacob Moyer, clarinet and Victoria Okafor, soprano
Winners of this year’s competition will be featured in performance with the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra on Monday, April 25, at 7 p.m. in Armstrong Concert Hall. Visit www.conservatoryperforms.org for tickets and more information (program to be determined).
More than fifty applicants applied to this year’s Student Soloists Competition. Participants performed in preliminary and semifinal rounds judged by the 2016 Student Soloists Committee (SSC), composed of Shenandoah Conservatory faculty representatives from the instrumental, keyboard and voice divisions, as well as Director of Orchestral Studies, Conductor, Chair of Instrumental Division, and Professor of Conducting Jan Wagner, who also serves as SSC chair. The final round was adjudicated by an all-external jury comprising Mark Hill (oboe, University of Maryland), Delores Ziegler (soprano, University of Maryland) and Audrey Andrist (piano, University of Maryland-Baltimore County).
2016 Student Soloists Competition Committee
JAN WAGNER, SSC Chair
Director of Orchestral Studies; Conductor; Chair of Instrumental Division; Professor, Conducting
DORIS LEDERER, SSC Instrumental Division Representative
Director of Instrumental Chamber Music; Professor, Viola and Chamber Music
MICHAEL FOREST, SSC Voice Division Representative
Associate Professor, Voice (Tenor)
JOHN O’CONOR, SSC Keyboard Division Representative
Distinguished Artist-in-Residence; Chair of Keyboard Division; Professor, Piano
2016 Guest Jury
MARK HILL, oboe
University of Maryland
DELORES ZIEGLER, soprano
University of Maryland
AUDREY ANDRIST, piano
University of Maryland-Baltimore County