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Four student musicians named 2008 Kenan Music Scholars

From UNC News Services

Three instrumentalists and a vocalist have been named Kenan Music Scholars, receiving full scholarships in music to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 2008 scholars, who will enroll at Carolina this fall, are Michael Fatum, a trumpet player from Chicago; Caroline Mason, a soprano from Camp Lejeune; Aaron Robinson, a tuba player from Wake Forest; and Qiudi Zhang, a clarinetist from Winston-Salem.

The students competed against 240 fellow musicians for the coveted scholarships in the College of Arts and Sciences. A $4 million endowment created in December 2006 by the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust of Chapel Hill funds the awards.
The scholarships cover in-state tuition, student fees, room and board. Scholarship recipients are not required to pay out-of-state tuition. The program also provides a $6,000 allowance for study abroad, work with a particular performer, internships with elite music groups, attendance at music festivals and other music events, and travel to auditions for graduate school programs.

A committee of faculty members chose the recipients for their academic excellence and outstanding ability in music. Four new Kenan Music Scholars are selected annually. The awards began last year.

“Carolina has always attracted superb students, but news of the Kenan Music Scholarships is traveling not only around the state, but around the United States, and bringing us a higher level of music applicants than ever before,” said Brent Wissick, cellist, mentor to the Kenan Music Scholars and Zachary Taylor Smith Distinguished Term Professor of music.

Fatum attends New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill. He performs with the Midwest Young Artists Jazz Combos and has toured China, Spain, Portugal and South Korea with various combo groupings. He attended the Eastman School of Music Summer Jazz Camp and has taken master classes at Northwestern University. He has won outstanding jazz musician, trumpet and wind section awards. He is an honor roll student and writes for his national award-winning high school newspaper.

Mason attends Portsmouth Abbey School in Portsmouth, R.I., on an academic scholarship. The soprano began her study in classical voice at age 12. She is a member of the Rhode Island Allstate Chorus and the Junior Providence Singers and has won awards in music, public speaking, English and poetry recitation. She has had leading roles in her school’s musical productions. In 2004, she received a full scholarship to study at the Washington National Opera Program for Young Singers. She also attended the N.C. Governor’s School East in 2006.

Robinson attends Wakefield High School in Wake Forest, where he won the Outstanding Senior Award and is on the honor roll. He is a member of the Triangle Youth Philharmonic in Raleigh, the N.C. All-State Honors Orchestra and Band, the Tri-M Music Honors Society and the National Honor Society. He is brass captain of his high school marching band. He attended the N.C. Governor’s School West in 2006 and has won many competitions as a tuba player, pianist and singer.

Zhang attends the N.C. School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. She received a full scholarship to the 2007 Kennedy Center/National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute. The institute accepts only one student from each state, chosen in competitive auditions. Zhang also won the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Symphony Competition and the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artists Award. She was profiled on “From the Top,” a weekly Houston radio series that showcases the nation’s most exceptional pre-college classical musicians. She also has won awards in French and art.

The William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust was established in 1965 through a bequest of Kenan, a chemist, engineer, industrialist and business executive who graduated from UNC in 1894. The trust supports education across the United States, and, reflecting Kenan’s love of his alma mater, has given generously over the years to Carolina.

College of Arts and Sciences contact: Kim Spurr, (919) 962-4093, spurrk@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589

June 3, 2008