Four Stan State Music Department students garnered an assortment of honors for exceptional performances in statewide and regional competitions held in April in Fresno.
Hanna Smolinskiy, a piano performance major, earned second-place honors statewide and first place honors regionally at the collegiate level in the California Association of Professional Music Teachers competition finals.
Meanwhile, Jessica Neuffer, Andrew Kessler and Adam Harker, all vocal performance majors, earned top honors and monetary awards in their age groups at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Central Valley Chapter competition. Neuffer, a graduating senior, placed first and Kessler, a junior, placed second in the musical theater division. Harker, a junior, placed first and Kessler placed second in the classical division.
For all four students, the awards are the result of dedication, performance development, artistic growth, technical skill and talent, according to their professors. In each event, the students faced stiff competition from scores of other well-prepared performers and rose to the top of their categories.
Smolinskiy, a transfer student from Modesto Junior College, said her first year of study and preparing for competition at Stan State gave her a new understanding of music, built her confidence, improved her abilities and deepened her love of playing. “For me, it is not about winning, but about sharing the music that is inside and receiving constructive feedback to continue to improve,” she said.
Sarah Chan, associate professor of piano at Stan State, said Smolinskiy's awards represent an impressive achievement. “Not only was the CAPMT Honors Competition her first attempt at a public competitive process, she ranked exceptionally high against other state-level competitors, all of whom were first-place winners from nine regions of the state,” said Chan, adding that Smolinskiy has made extensive progress in the areas of musicianship, expressivity and performance confidence in a short amount of time.
At the singing competition, judging was rigorous and the performers were highly competitive, said Professor of Voice Joseph Wiggett, who taught all three Stan State winners in his studio. Vocal students competed against their peers in various age and genre-specific categories and those with the highest scores were awarded either first- or second-place prizes in each category. At the end of the day, all first- and second-place winners presented a concert for the attendees and their guests.
"For our students to place first or second in this competition is quite an accomplishment," Wiggett said. "The region stretches from Modesto to Bakersfield, and these students were competing against students from all the community and state colleges, universities and private voice schools in the area, including some much bigger programs."