This week at the College of Music: Community Edition - April 20, 2023

Spring 2023 Outstanding Graduating Senior
Congratulations to Izzy Fincher—the College of Music’s Outstanding Graduating Senior this spring—who will graduate with a BM in classical guitar performance, a BA in journalism, a business minor with a Music Entrepreneurship Certificate and a Music Theory Certificate, exemplifying the College of Music’s universal musician mission. Each semester, outstanding students are selected based on academic merit, a strong record of musicianship, and a record of service and leadership.
Photo credit: Kimberly Nicole Coffin

• Meet Ashraf Sewailam: 2023 Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient.
• Alumna Winona Martin, mezzo-soprano, won first prize in the 35th Annual Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition. Congratulations! 
• By a string (Boulder Weekly)—Get inspired by alumna Rachel Sliker’s musical journey—from the camaraderie she feels with a local community of “side players,” like Jeb Bows of Isakov’s band, Stelth Ulvang of the Lumineers and the musicians in Nathaniel Rateliff’s horn section, to her aspirations of leading her own band, with her own songs, on vocals and guitar. 
• Denver7 Everyday Heroes: We’re thrilled to follow the many successes of Obe Ariss, who earned a doctorate from our College of Music, and his wife, Whitney, who studied vocal performance at our college. Obe is a pianist who worked as a development director at the Colorado Symphony before he and Whitney combined their passions for music and food to open a performance space and restaurant that they owned and operated for seven years. Today, their nonprofit Preservery Foundation provides hunger relief. 
• Congratulations to the College of Music’s CU Philharmonia Orchestra for being selected as a national semi-finalist for The American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music! This tremendous honor is based on the CU Philharmonia’s performances of Carlos Simon’s “Fate Now Conquers” and Adolphus Hailstork’s “Sonata da Chiesa” in September 2022.
• Guest master class with violinist James Ehnes, April 21, 2:30-4 p.m., Grusin Music Hall: Free and open to the public. Ehnes will perform with the Colorado Symphony this weekend. 
• We love this inspiring spotlight on the Sphinx Organization (PBS NewsHour) which makes us even more excited to host the Sphinx Performance Academy (SPA) on campus this summer! Spearheaded by our Assistant Professor of Violin Alex Gonzalez, who’s also a longtime member of the Sphinx Virtuosi, we’re proud to join the SPA’s long-term partners—the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School—in hosting this nationally acclaimed program for string musicians ages 11-17. More to come!

• Stay current with the College of Music in our online newsroom.
• Access upcoming CU Presents digital program books here.
• Feel Good Fridays: Weekly hybrid workshops to learn about a work of art and then participate in a related mindfulness practice.