Michael Dwinell of Asheville, a recent graduate of UNC School of the Arts, is the winner of the Leonard Bernstein Excellence Award.
The award, created by John Mauceri, the chancellor of UNCSA, with a gift from Leonard Bernstein's children, is given annually to a music student at UNCSA who epitomizes the talent and commitment of Bernstein. Dwinell is the third recipient of the award.
Dwinell has a bachelor's in oboe performance. While an undergraduate, he performed with the Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra, the Piedmont Wind Symphony, NOVUS Chamber Orchestra and in major UNCSA musical productions, including symphony concerts, "The Nutcracker" and operas with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute.
He is a founding member of the Halcyon Winds, an UNCSA-based, award-winning woodwind quintet. He received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Music in 2010.
Dwinell will begin a master's degree in orchestral conducting at UNCSA in the fall.
UNCSA grad wins contest
Benjamin Robinette, a 2011 graduate of UNC School of the Art's School of Music, has won first prize at the inaugural Rosen-Schaffel Young Artists Competition during the Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone.
He will be invited to perform a complete concerto with the Eastern Festival Orchestra next summer. He also received a $1,500 cash prize.
Robinette graduated with a bachelor's in saxophone performance from the University of Tennessee in 2009. He studied at UNCSA with Taimur Sullivan and served as Sullivan's teaching assistant. He graduated from UNCSA with a master's in saxophone performance this spring.
Two other 2011 UNCSA graduates were among the finalists at the Appalachian festival. They were Katherine Ardoin of Jamestown, a vocalist who received a master's in music; and Louise Grevin of France, a cellist who received a professional artist certificate.
The Rosen-Schaffel competition is named in honor of Muriel Rosen and two of her family members, Nancy and Neil Schaffel. The competition is open to students from North Carolina colleges and universities who are rising seniors, graduate students or alumni who have graduated within the past two years and are younger than 30.
Marcus Green
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