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2024-25 Ekstrand Graduate Student Competition winners announced

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We are thrilled to announce the winner of the 2024-25 Bruce Ekstrand Memorial Graduate Student Performance Competition: The Koa String Quartet!

The College of Music鈥檚 current graduate string quartet in residence鈥攃omprising violinists Kisa Uradomo and Leah Pernick, violist Thomas Chafe and cellist Heewon Lee鈥攕tudies with the Tak谩cs Quartet. On Nov. 19, the Koa Quartet performed selections from works by Joseph Haydn and Kevin Lau, and was awarded $2,000 for their Ekstrand win.

鈥淲e are so happy to have started our residency at CU 麻豆影院 on such a positive note! It was an incredible opportunity to perform onstage alongside so many of our talented peers,鈥 Pernick says. 鈥淭hank you so much to the Tak谩cs Quartet and string faculty for their mentorship, and to the Ekstrand family for their generous support of students.鈥

Lee shares, 鈥淥ur main goal of the performance was to have fun and keep up the good energy. I think us dancing backstage helped with that. But in all seriousness, we鈥檙e super thankful for the win!鈥

Second prize ($1,000) went to saxophonist Joel Ferst, who also won the audience favorite prize ($250). This year鈥檚 other Ekstrand finalists ($500 each) include pianist John-Austin King, baritone Andrew Konopak and violinist Laura P茅rez Rangel.

This year鈥檚 esteemed panel of judges were Jason Bergman鈥擜ssociate Professor of Trumpet, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; Courtney Hershey Bress鈥擯rincipal Harpist, Colorado Symphony; Adjunct Professor of Harp, University of Denver Lamont School of Music; and Lecturer of Harp, University of Wyoming; and Cameron Stowe鈥擟hair, Collaborative Piano, New England Conservatory; Director, Collaborative Piano, Aspen Music Festival and School.

The Ekstrand Competition was launched by previous College of Music dean Robert Fink, and later renamed to honor the late Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and psychology professor Bruce Ekstrand. The competition invites top graduate students to compete for cash prizes for professional development. This year鈥檚 faculty judges for the鈥 semi-final competition were Renee Gilliland, Jeremy Reger and Branden Steinmetz.

Semi-finalists included:

  • Voice: Sidney Grimm, soprano; Andrew Konopak, baritone; James Robinson, baritone
  • Piano: John-Austin King, Luca Pompilio
  • Strings: Julian Bennett, cello; Koa String Quartet; Laura P茅rez Rangel, violin
  • Woodwinds: Joel Ferst, saxophone; Dylan King, saxophone; Harold Gomez-Montoya, clarinet
  • Brass + percussion: Mark Bennett, trombone; Sydney Hoehl, trumpet; Connor Johnson, trumpet

Congratulations to the Koa String Quartet and all participants in this year鈥檚 competition, as well as their teachers鈥攖he Tak谩cs Quartet, Andrew Cooperstock, Andrew Garland and Nathan Mertens in the final round. Our special thanks also to collaborative pianists Runze Li, Hsiao-Ling Lin, Matthew Sebald鈥攁nd all other pianists, mentors and teachers involved in the previous rounds of this competition.

Partially funded by the , this annual event is the premier performance competition for the College of Music鈥檚 most outstanding graduate students.