Heritage Fund – the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County has announced high school seniors Devan Rhoades and Luke Major as the first-place winners in the 2016 Brown Music Competitions. The events were held Saturday at First Christian Church in Columbus.
Amy Laker, with the Heritage Fund, says that Rhoades, playing the alto saxophone, placed first in the Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence, performing “Sonata, Op. 19 for E-Flat Alto Saxophone” by Creston. Major, a tenor, received first place in the Anna Newell Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence, singing “Lonely House” by Weil and “Bonjour Suzon” by Delibes. Both students will receive a college scholarship in the amount of $3,500.
Also in the senior instrumental competition, Tiger Fu and Adam Ruble received second-place awards of $1,000. Fu, playing trombone, performed “Blue Bells of Scotland” by Pryor. Ruble performed “Concerto No. 1 for Horn and Orchestra” by Strauss on French horn.
In the senior vocal competition, Caroline Luehrmann and Shelby Bricker received second-place honors and awards of $1,250. Luehrmann, a mezzo, performed “Piercing Eyes” by Haydn and “Un Moto di Gioia” by Mozart. Bricker, a soprano, performed “Mermaid’s Song” by Haydn and “L’Heure Exquise” by Hahn. Laura Pierson, a mezzo, received a third-place award of $700. Annelise Guenther, a soprano, received fourth-place honors and $300.
Laker says that six seniors competed in the instrumental competition, while five seniors participated in the vocal competition.
In the sophomore and junior competitions, Laker says that 27 instrumentalists and 10 vocalists competed for scholarships for music lessons or music camps. Underclassmen winners were: Instrumentalists: Yijiang Zhao, Machi Takeda, Clayton Stine and Richard Liu, each receiving $600 awards; and Samuel Heichelbech, Caleb Bray and Matthew Allman, each receiving $200 awards. Vocal: Joseph Robinson and Emily Sipes, each receiving $750 awards; Erin Erickson, receiving a $500 award; and Tristan Grider, Samuele Beggs, Sarah Pankratz, Pavithra Venkataraman and Brittany Davis, each receiving $200 awards.