Matthew Liu
High school seniors Matthew Liu and Andrei Minut are the winners of the 2022 Annual Brown Music Competition hosted virtually Saturday from the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s Helen Haddad Hall downtown.
The Heritage Fund — the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, administers the program that music teachers, judges, professional musicians and others have lauded as one of the finest such awards programs in the country.
Liu, a student of Columbus North and piano instructor Irina Ter-Grigoryan, won the Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence, performing “Moonlight Sonata, 3rd Movement, Presto Agitato” by Beethoven.
Minut, a home-schooled baritone student of Camilla Gehring, won the Anna Newell Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence, singing “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal” by Quilter and “Widmung” by Schumann. Each will receive a $3,500 scholarship award.
Andrei Minut
Other senior award winners were:
Saylor Lancaster, piano, $2,000
Tiffany Fu, violin, $1,000
Clara Halsey, piano, $500
Sofia Martinez, mezzo, $1250
Lillie Tickel, mezzo, $1250
Anna Jackson, mezzo, $500
Olivia Pittman, soprano, $500
Underclass award winners were:
Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri, violin, $2,000
Aislinn Tian, marimba, $600
Darren Li, violin, $400
Molly Hotek, soprano, $2,000
Judges for the event were Susan Chan, violist, New Century String Quartet and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, adjunct faculty, University of Indianapolis; Ray Kilburn, associate professor of music, piano, Ball State University; Lissa F. May, associate dean for instruction, professor of music education, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University; Mary Ann Hart, retired professor of voice, Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University; Kerry Jennings, director of opera studies, California State University, Fullerton; and Thomas Studebaker, lecturer of voice, Central Michigan University.
The Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence were established by Robert N. Brown in 1992 in memory of his wife, Betty. Betty F. Brown was a well-known and highly respected advocate and patron of the arts, both locally and statewide.
The Anna Newell Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence were established through the Heritage Fund in 1985 by Robert N. and Betty F. Brown to honor Robert N. Brown’s mother, Anna Newell Brown. She was a distinguished vocalist and contributed to the cultural life of the Bartholomew County community.
Robert N. Brown was the longtime chairman of Home News Enterprises, The Republic’s former parent company. He also served as chairman of the Heritage Fund Board from 1980 to 1983, during which the foundation awarded its first grant – a $500 award for the Art in Public Places Program.
Both competitions are administered annually by Heritage Fund – The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County.
