Women's Advisory Board Scholarship Competition Winner 2024

Carolina studies cello with GRAMMY Award-winning Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra cellist Adam Liu. Accompanied by pianist Fabio Gentili, Carolina's winning performance of Max Bruch's Kol Nidrei (video below) solidified her as the winner of the competition and its accompanying $8,000 scholarship. 

Each year, the Women's Advisory Board Scholarship Competition (WABSC) is judged by a group of three guest artists. This year, our judges included William Caballero (Principal Horn, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra), Pauline Rovkah (Head of Piano Program, Chatham University), and Mark Trawka (Director of Musical Studies and Chorus Master, Pittsburgh Opera). Following the performance, the judges offered feedback to all performers.

In order to compete in the WABSC, students must be juniors (qualified by completed credit hours) and maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Our music faculty then choose the most outstanding representatives in their area from this list of qualified students, and these individuals are then invited to participate in the competition. Carolina competed against five other MPSOM musicians including:

• Ty Lewis, trumpet (studio of Micah Wilkinson)
• Zane Wooddell, piano (studio of Dr. Kevin Lee Sun)
• Walter Vinoski, bassoon (studio of James Rodgers)
• Collin McCormick, voice (studio of Brent Weber)
• Kyle Chauvette, clarinet (studio of Jack Howell)

Since 1980, the Women's Advisory Board has worked very hard to raise funds for scholarships to support students of the MPSOM, and we are incredibly thankful for their efforts over the years. Their efforts have benefited many students over the last four decades by offsetting the costs associated with the second-to-none education they receive from our immensely talented faculty.

Congratulations, Carolina!

*photos courtesy of Nicholas Todorov