The Division of Music in Samford University’s School of the Arts celebrated the talents of students, and presented multiple awards and scholarships provided by generous patrons at the annual honors recital April 11.
The longstanding tradition included performances by eight students, and awards presented by faculty members Kathryn Fouse, Joseph Hopkins, Donald Sanders, Eric Mathis and Sharon Lawhon.
Among the many students commended during the event, three students are multiple award winners. Anna Madeline Willis, a junior vocal performance major from Birmingham, Alabama, received the Junior Class Outstanding Student of the Year Award as well as the Shepherd-Walker Award, which is given to the music student who has graciously used his or her talent and education to enrich the lives of others. Willis was also honored with the Eva Clapp White Memorial Voice Scholarship Award established by Paul Gaston White.
Freshman Annesley G. Streets from Alabaster, Alabama, received the Freshman Outstanding Student Award and the Howard Weldon Smith Violin Scholarship Award, which provides an annual scholarship to a violin student majoring in music. The recipient is chosen based on both academic work and performance skills. Streets is an instrumental music major.
A featured performer of the evening, Brooke Noe Proctor, a junior piano performance and pedagogy major from Hanceville, Alabama, received both the Northrup Keyboard Performance Award and the Northrup Scholar Award. Samford Arts patrons Jeff and Lori Northup provided these awards and also established a Northrup Instrumental Performance Award that went to junior euphonium performance major Michnari Hendrick from Joliet, Illinois. These students were chosen because they represent the highest standard of musical performance.
Other Outstanding Student of the Year Award recipients are Anna Katherine Taylor, sophomore; Kathryn Ann Lamb, senior; Joshua Alan Ferguson, graduate studies. These students are selected on the basis of total contribution, including spirit, work ethic and collegiality.
The Barbara Stevens Price Church Music Scholarship Award was established by former Samford School of the Arts dean Milburn Price to be awarded to a church music major who has demonstrated outstanding progress in music studies in both academic and performance areas. Dean from 1993 to 2006, Price established the Honors Recital tradition and formed the Music Scholarship Endowment Committee, a still vibrant group now known as the School of the Arts Executive Council of the Friends of the Arts. Junior music and worship major Anna Elizabeth Lee from Johns Creek, Georgia, is this year’s Price Award recipient.
The Robert B. Hatfield Scholarship for Excellence in Music Ministry was established to provide scholarship assistance for currently enrolled Samford School of the Arts Division of Music students studying music and worship. Candidates submit essays that consider past, present and future involvement in music ministry. The 2017 Robert B. Hatfield Scholarship Award went to junior music and worship major Reid Stephens Parrott from Mountain Brook, Alabama.
The Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award is presented to an outstanding student majoring in music at the end of the student’s junior year solely by consideration of merit. David Andrew Roby from Shelby, North Carolina, was recognized this year. He is a music piano performance and pedagogy major.
The music honor society Pi Kappa Lambda also inducted its newest members at the event: Sarah Lynn Allen, Joshua Alan Ferguson, Alicia Morgan Garrison, Rebekah Dawn Hunnewell, Kathryn Ann Lamb, Christina Marie Lewis, Thomas Andrew Montgomery, Annsley Elizabeth Tate and Robert Reynolds Turnage.
Ashley Smith is marketing and communication coordinator for Samford Arts.