GTMF scholarship deadline is Monday – JH News&Guide

Bass-baritone Brian Wacker, of Cheyenne East High School’s class of 2019, graduated from Oberlin College and currently is preparing to sing in Central City Opera’s upcoming production of “The Marriage of Figaro” in Denver.

Boise-area pianist Truman Walker is getting ready for his senior recital at the New England Conservatory and plans to earn his graduate diploma there next.

And then there’s pianist Tanner Jorden, from Billings, Montana, who will join Maestro Donald Runnicles and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Hole High School Auditorium in July as the soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

These three are just a few of the success stories of past finalists in the festival’s Donald Runnicles Musical Arts Scholarship Competition.

The May 4 deadline to apply for this year’s ninth annual competition is rapidly approaching. Open to graduating high school seniors from Wyoming, Idaho or Montana who plan to pursue a music degree in college, the first round requires a performance video submitted online. GTMF staff reviews those and whittles the field down to six semifinalists, who then perform 20-minute sets for a panel of three judges, including Runnicles, the Festival’s music director for the past 20 years. Three finalists then compete for scholarships of $10,000, $15,000 and, for the winner, $25,000. New this year, the first-prize winner also will get to perform with the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, led by Jerry Hou, a former GTMF associate conductor.

“As the impact and above all the success of the competition has spread,” Runnicles said in an email to the Jackson Hole Daily, “there has been a noticeable increase in applications. The standards have always been high, and the challenges of ranking the three finalists remain demanding and inspiring.”

Semifinals will start at 10 a.m. July 18 and finals at 1 p.m. July 19 in the Jackson Hole High School Auditorium. The public is welcome to attend, and admission is free.

Learn more about Donald Runnicles Musical Arts Scholarship Competition

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