Life > March 2, 2006

By Elizabeth Fu

Staff writer

Over 20 undergraduate students competed in the Lucille Harris and Christopher Giles Competitions in Brendle Recital Hall on Feb. 25.

Students competed in the Open Competition by showcasing various talents such as voice, violin, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, trombone or piano.

Students also participated in the Piano Competition.

This year 21 students were involved in the Open Competition.

The competition was fierce, with 12 students choosing to perform voice pieces.

Junior theatre major Katharine McEnery won the first place Joseph Pleasant Sloan and Marguerite Nutt Sloan Award of $500 with her voice piece as a soprano.

This was McEnery’s first time competing and she said she was honored to win in the midst of the university’s best. 

“I love the pieces I was performing and I just took this competition as another chance to go out and perform these wonderful pieces that I love and most of all have fun,” said McEnery.

Junior Kristen Settlemire won the second place Patricia Sloan Mize Award of $400 for her performance on the saxophone.

Sophomore Ernest Lewis, Jr. received the third place prize of $300 for his voice piece as a tenor and freshman Christine Cooluris won the fourth place prize of $200 for the piano.

Three seniors and three freshmen students competed in the piano competition.

Freshman Evelyn Eisele won the Paul Sinal Prize of $500.

Eisele said it was a nice surprise to win.

“When the names of the winners were announced, I wasn’t really thinking or feeling a lot. It took an hour or so for the realization that I had actually won to sink in. Naturally, though, I was elated when it did,” she said.

Senior Jeevan Chelladurai won the Elvy Prize of $300.

In addition, freshman Christine Cooluris won the Ward Virts Prize for Pianistic Expressiveness of $500.

The competitions were started by Paul Sinal, Christopher Giles and Lucille Harris in 1977.

Sinal was a piano student at the university, while Giles and Harris were piano teachers. The objective is to allow current students in the department of music to prepare and compete on a more challenging level.

Students are recommended by teachers to participate in the competition.

The competition has attracted a steady number in the past eight years.

“The average has been eight students in the Piano Competition and 19 in the Open Competition,” said lecturer in music Kathryn Levy, director of the competition.

Students work long and hard in preparation for the competition.

Since December McEnery has been working every week with her voice teacher, professor of music Teresa Radomski, to prepare.

Eisele had been working on her pieces since the middle of last semester.

Music professionals and academics, including members of the Greensboro and Winston-Salem Symphonies and North Carolina School of the Arts, judged the competition. The prize money is donated, according to Levy.

Harris and Sinal were present at this year’s competition.

They were also joined by the Virts, Wyatt and Frances Crowe, who are all donors to the competition and traveled a great distance to come to the annual event.