Casper student places in prestigious Grand Teton Music Festival scholarship competition – Oil City News

Young Casper pianist Oliver Soulek has extended his long list of awards after finishing in second place at the 2026 Donald Runnicles Musical Arts Scholarship Competition at the Grant Teton Music Festival on Sunday in Jackson.

Soulek, who graduated from KWHS in May, was the only Wyoming resident to advance to the finalist round.

Pianist Adelyn Bendorf, of Boise, Idaho, won first place, and flautist Ella Charette, of Billings, Montana, took third.

The competition awarded a total of $50K in scholarships to help with their continued education in music. Soulek’s scholarship award totals $15K, according to his mother, Michele.

For his competition program, Soulek performed selections by Haydn, Chopin and Bach. The judges commented that his Haydn was “light and well-voiced,” the Bach was “brilliant, gleaming,” and the Chopin interpretation was “understated and very lyrical.”

Soulek will attend the Berklee College of Music to study film scoring and recording this fall.

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