Palm Beach Symphony Seeks Outstanding High School Musicians For Award

Music students may have just returned to the classroom but high school seniors are already thinking about college. Palm Beach Symphony is now accepting nominations for the Lisa Bruna B-Major Award which will bestow upon one to three high school seniors in Palm Beach County an advanced level instrument that will be suitable for college auditions and the start of a career in music.

Eligible students must be current high school seniors in good academic standing who are planning to enter a music degree program at a university or institution of higher learning. Nominations are accepted from music teachers and private instructors and must be submitted by Monday, November 1 at 5 p.m. Complete details and the nomination form are available at Lisa Bruna B-Major Award (palmbeachsymphony.org).

Nominations will be judged upon the nominee's accomplishments and activities (academic, musical and in the community), future musical plans and financial need. The winner(s) are determined by audition with finalists participating in an interview and playing two contrasting musical works in front of a panel of judges. Each recipient will work closely with Palm Beach Symphony to identify, test, and select the ideal instrument.

Last season, Palm Beach Symphony recognized three talented students who are continuing their studies at some of the nation's most acclaimed music programs. Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts alumna Annabella Paolucci, who received an 1891 Luigi Montanari violin, is currently enrolled at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance. Boca High School graduate Derek Janoff, who received a Buffet Crampon R13 Professional Bb clarinet, is studying at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. His fellow Boca High School classmate Paul Stancampiano was recognized as 2020 runner-up and received a Yamaha New York Xeno Artist Model C trumpet, which he is playing in his studies at Baylor University School of Music.

Tom Stancampiano, Paul's father, described the importance of receiving an advanced level instrument. "To have gotten this instrument from the Symphony is huge. It helped him with his playing, it helped him with his college auditions....one audition had the principal [musician] of Cleveland, the principal of the Philadelphia and the principal of the Boston Symphony on the call and when you have people like that listening to you, you need to have everything going for you."

The instruments will be bestowed at the Palm Beach Symphony's 20th Anniversary Annual Gala: "A Musical Journey" honoring its late President Dale Archer McNulty on Monday, February 21 at the Breakers Palm Beach.

Now in its fourth year, the award was previously renamed in memory of Lisa Bruna, who served as the Symphony's director of marketing and communications prior to her passing in 2019 and was well-known for her passion for helping others.

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