Casper percussionist prevails in 7th annual Runnicles competition – JH News&Guide
After three wildly varied performances by student musicians Sunday afternoon in Walk Festival Hall, three judges named Casper percussionist Evan DePaolo the first-prize winner of the seventh annual Donald Runnicles Musical Arts Scholarship Competition, awarding him a $25,000 scholarship to continue his studies at the University of Denver.
Jackson’s own mezzo-soprano Grace Meadows won the $15,000 second prize, and pianist Ian Philip Cole, of Pocatello, Idaho, claimed third place and $10,000.
The three teenagers were among 21 student musicians from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming who applied for the scholarship, bestowed in honor of the Grand Teton Music Festival’s conductor and music director, Sir Donald Runnicles.
The field was winnowed to six semifinalists — including Star Valley pianist Maren Arbizu, Cody flautist Karina Schoessler and vocalist Abigail Tidlow-Tranel, a Yellowstone National Park resident — who performed for a small audience Saturday. The judges further cut the field to play again Sunday.
Runnicles served as a judge for the competition with longtime GTMF clarinetist Stephanie Key and violist Chiara Kingsley Dieguez.