Cumberland Valley School of Music plans to hold its annual Recognition Concert on Sunday, April 23 to feature the student recipients of the Merit Awards Scholarships, the recipient of the Henry and Janet Guarriello Scholarship, and graduating seniors who plan to major or minor in a performance art.
Free and open to the public, the concert will take place at the Thomson Alumnae Chapel on the Wilson College Campus, 1015 Philadelphia Avenue, Chambersburg. Each student will perform during the 3 p.m. concert.
According to Paula Hepfer, CVSM executive director, the Merit Awards Scholarship process was formed during the earliest years of the 27-year-old school’s existence. She recently commented about the merit audition process.
“All participating students benefit from the merit audition process, not only those named in the top spots. Performing before a panel of judges serves as a powerful motivator to prepare diligently. The audition itself requires courage and develops poise under pressure, and the judges’ feedback provides direction to future studies direction,” Hepfer said.
To determine the Merit winners, students auditioned on Saturday, April 1. Students in instrumental, piano and voice categories presented pieces they prepared before three judges.
Once the judging sheets were tallied, students placed as follows:
Instrumental
1st – Jordan Noll, flute, student of Amanda Bietsch. Jordan is a 10th grade homeschool student affiliated with Greencastle-Antrim High School and is the daughter of Jeffrey and Carla Noll.
Piano
1st – Rebekah Duvall, student of Julia Emig. Rebekah is a 9th grade student at Greencastle-Antrim Middle School and is the daughter of Paul and Anne Duvall.
2nd – Elinor Borrell, student of Valerie Merriman. Elinor attends 11th grade at CASHS and is the daughter of Joseph and Melinda Borrell.
3rd – Benjamin Smith, student of Jeffrey Noll. Ben is an 11th grade homeschool student and is the son of Greg and Daria Smith.
Voice:
1st – Benjamin Smith, student of Jeffrey Noll. Ben is an 11th grade homeschool student and is the son of Greg and Daria Smith.
2nd – Elizabeth Hill, student of Paula Hepfer. Elizabeth is a 9th grade student at Chambersburg Area Senior High School and is the daughter of Charles and Anne Hill.
3rd – Logan Cook, student of Corey Rotz. Logan is an 11th grade student at Chambersburg Area Senior High School and is the son of Chris Cook.
The 1st Place Voice Award is the Margaret Weeks Vocal Award. The late Margaret (Peggy) Weeks taught voice for many years at CVSM. Hepfer remembered working with Weeks.
“Peggy was a wonderful instructor to many accomplished musicians and a substantial number of professional singers including Elisabeth Turchi, Carla Jablonski and Corey Evan Rotz. Her students raised money to create the Margaret Weeks Vocal Award fund to continue her legacy of excellence,” Hepfer recalled.
Also as a result of the auditions, the Benjamin A. Rhine Award was presented to Jonathan Crawford, an 11th grader at CASHS. Jonathan is a voice student of Richard Overcash and a violin student of Deb Stotelmyer. He is an 11th grade student at Chambersburg Area Senior High School and is the son of Barrie and Kristine Crawford. The Benjamin A. Rhine Memorial Scholarship was established in 1996 to honor the memory of Ben Rhine, who studied multiple instruments at CVSM. The award is given annually to a CVSM student who is studying and displaying aptitude in more than one instrument concurrently.
The Henry and Janet Guarriello Scholarship is presented to high school students who have a minimum of three years of lesson experience at CVSM and who are planning to continue their music education. The 2017 recipient is voice student Elary Mede, a senior at CASHS. Elary plans to major in voice performance at Shenandoah University. The Guarriellos fund this annual scholarship through the Franklin County Foundation, a regional organization representing The Foundation for Enhancing Communities.
In addition to scholarship monies, the students winning awards will be presented with certificates at the concert.
Also performing at the concert are graduating seniors who plan to major or minor in a performance art.
For additional information about the Recognition Concert or the school of music lessons, camps and workshops, please call (717)-261-1220. Visit us online at www.cvsmusic.org. Keep up with all the latest happenings by following CVSM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@cvsmusic).
