Sphinx Organization Announces Winners Of The 28th Annual Sphinx Competition

Sphinx Organization, the leading non-profit dedicated to transforming lives through the power of the arts, has announced the winners of the 28th Annual Sphinx Competition in Detroit, MI, which took place from January 23-25, 2025 in the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center. 

After performing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's Violin Concerto in G minor I. Allegro maestoso, violinist Gabriela Lara was named the 2025 First Prize winner of the Senior Division Finals (Ages 18-30), receiving the $50,000 Robert Frederick Smith Prize and a slate of solo appearances with major American orchestras. Second place in the Senior Division and $20,000 was awarded to violist Paul Aguilar, while third place and $10,000 went to violinist Brendon Elliot. Violist Paul Aguilar was also selected for the $5,000 Audience Choice Prize. The performance alongside the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lina Gonzalez-Granados (Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient and resident conductor for LA Opera) also featured the world premiere of Daydreaming for Orchestra by composer Levi Taylor.

As the First Prize winner of the 28th Annual Sphinx Competition Junior Division Finals (Ages 17 and under) on Friday, January 24, violinist Jacqueline Rodenbeck will receive $10,000 and multiple solo appearances with major orchestras. Second Prize went to cellist Sonya Moomaw, who received $5,000, while Third Prize and $3,000 went to violinist Kai Isoke Ali-Landing.

All Junior and Senior Division finalists performed with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, the all-Black and Latino orchestra comprising top professionals from around the country under the direction of Lina Gonzalez-Granados. The 2025 competition was judged by an illustrious panel including Danielle Belen, Professor of Violin at the University of Michigan and Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient; Joseph Conyers, Principal Bass, The Philadelphia Orchestra; Charlotte Lee, President and Founder, Primo Artists; Joshua Roman, Cellist, Composer, Curator; Abhijit Sengupta, Director, Artistic Planning, Carnegie Hall; Melissa White, Founding Violinist of the Grammy Award Winning Harlem Quartet; and Mark Wilson, Executive Director, Zoellner Arts Center.

The Sphinx Competition is a national competition offering young Black and Latino classical string players a chance to compete under the guidance of an internationally renowned panel of judges and to perform with and receive mentorship from established professional musicians. 

Finalists in both the Junior and Senior divisions have the opportunity to perform with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, a unique all-Black and Latino orchestra comprised of top professionals from around the country, and compete for a total of nearly $100,000 in prizes, including the top Robert Frederick Smith Prize. All semi-finalists and finalists have access to scholarships and fine instruments through the Sphinx Music Assistance Fund. Former laureates of the Sphinx Competition include artists such as Joseph Conyers, Patrice Jackson, Sterling Elliott, Randall Goosby, Tai Murray, and Elena Urioste, all of whom have gone on to major orchestral and solo careers.

About Senior Division Winner Gabriela Lara

Originally from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Gabriela Lara began her violin studies at age 8 and later became a member of the Latin American Violin Academy, where she was a student of Jose Francisco del Castillo and Francisco Diaz. She was also a member of El Sistema in Venezuela and, as part of that ensemble, had the opportunity to make a 2014 Europe Tour with the Teresa Carreño Symphony Orchestra. She also performed with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra as part of a 2016 European tour that included a concert at the Berliner Philharmonie and performed with Sir Simon Rattle as part of a tour that included concerts at the Salzburg Festival. 

Since moving to the United States in 2017, Lara has been recognized as the second-place winner in the 2021 Sphinx Solo Competition and winner of the 2021 Frank Preuss International Violin Competition. She was also the recipient of a 2022 Project Inclusion Fellowship from the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, Lara received a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she was a student of Almita Vamos and went on to receive a master's degree in Suzuki Pedagogy from Roosevelt University in 2024.

In the 2022/23 Season, Lara was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, serving as Civic's Concertmaster from January to June 2023. Lara became the first ever Chicago Symphony Orchestra Fellow in the 2022/23 Season and continued as the Michael and Kathleen Elliott Fellow in the 2023/24 Season, performing regularly with the Orchestra including more than 20 weeks of concerts each season in Chicago and on tour in North America and Europe with Riccardo Muti, the CSO's Music Director Emeritus for Life. She was appointed to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in September 2024 and is currently a member of the second violin section. In December 2024, Lara was the first Chicago Symphony Orchestra musician appointed by Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä and will begin her position as a member of the first violin section effective January 27, 2025.

About Junior Division Winner Jacqueline Rodenbeck

Jacqueline Rodenbeck (violin), 16, hails from Oro Valley, Arizona, and is a senior student at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy. She has been playing violin for more than ten years, since 2013, during which she took lessons at the Tucson Youth Music Center; now, she studies under Prof. Danwen Jiang at Arizona State University. 

Jacqueline is concertmaster of the Tucson Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, of which she has been a part for the past three years. She has placed in local competitions including the COT Young Artists Competition, SASO Youth Concerto Competition, MTNA AZ State Competition, Phoenix Young Musicians Competition, TPYO Scholarship Competition, and TSO Young Artist Competition. She has also placed in international competitions including the Bach International Music Competition, the International Moscow Music Competition, and the Clara Schumann International Competition chamber division. 

Additionally, she has been invited to solo with a variety of orchestras including the Arizona Symphonic Winds, the Pima Community College String Orchestra, the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Tucson, and the Tucson Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Starting in 2016, Jacqueline has attended several music programs and festivals across the country, including the Heifetz International Music Institute PEG, Sphinx Performance Academy, the Encore Summer Academy, the Curtis Network Mentor Program, and the National Symphony Orchestra Program (NSO) at The Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

In everyday life, Jacqueline enjoys running, reading fantasy novels, and learning about plants and animals.

About Sphinx Organization

The Sphinx Organization is dedicated to transforming lives through the power of the arts and has reached more than 100 million people worldwide. Focused on increasing representation in classical music and celebrating excellence, Sphinx programs serve beginner students, seasoned classical music professionals, cultural entrepreneurs, and artistic administrators by addressing the systemic lack of access within Black and Latino communities. 

Based in Detroit, Michigan, with global reach, Sphinx envisions a day in which our art form reflects our greater society, where every young person has the opportunity to express themselves and learn classical music, where audiences reflect the breadth of our community, and where leadership – on stage and off – includes all deserving voices. 

Read more about Sphinx's programs at www.sphinxmusic.org. 

View the “Sphinx Organization: A 25-year Journey” timeline here.

*Photo Credit: Brian Hatton

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