Sergiani, Setabrahmana Competition Prizes

Violinist, Conductor Win Competition Prizes

Congratulations to violin student Jeremías Sergiani Velázquez ’14, a student of Miriam Fried. The Argentinian native won the 25th annual Fundación Hebraica Argentina Competition for young artists earlier this month in Buenos Aires. In addition to the $25,000 prize money, he won a concerto appearance September 9 with the National Youth Symphony Orchestra under conductor Mario Benzecry. The competition is open to musicians up to age 25 (or age 30 for singers).

Congratulations are also in order for Thanapol Setabrahmana, ‘11 MM in Wind Ensemble Conducting and a former student of Charles Peltz. He took second place nationally in the band/wind ensemble division of TheAmerican Prize in Conducting competition, 2013. Now a doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he was selected from applications reviewed this summer from all across the United States. The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.

Another Wind Ensemble conducting alumnus, Jayce Ogren ’03 MM is also making good. He is the newly appointed Music Director of the New York City Opera. He’s slated to conduct two of the four productions in the 2013-14 season: Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. (Another alumnus, Gary Thor Wedow ’75 MM, is also on the conducting roster and is scheduled to lead Johann Christian Bach’s Endimione.) Now the company, dubbing itself “The People’s Opera,” just has to raise $1 million for the season to commence…Stay tuned.