On Sunday, February 12, 2017 fifteen soloists and four chamber groups participated in the finals of the Semper Pro Musica Solo and Chamber Music Competition in Jones Hall in the McCrary Music Building. This was the last step in a two-round process that began late in the fall 2016 semester and involved 25% of the Music School’s student population.

A panel of three external judges began hearing solo finalists at 1:00 pm in the afternoon and ended at the conclusion of the chamber music finals at 6:00 pm after which they began their deliberations. Student winners were announced during a brief ceremony that concluded a day of high-level music making from each and every competitor. The judges for the finals were Bradley Moore (Houston Grand Opera), John Owings (Texas Christian University), and Mary Ellen Poole (The University of Texas at Austin).

The five winners of the solo competition included: Ricardo Gomez (violin), Yera Kim (piano), Casey Klopp (mezzo soprano), David Medina (percussion), and Spencer Sosnowski (saxophone). The three chamber groups selected as winners included a trio composed of Zachary Barba (tenor voice), Stephen Buley (horn), and Sara Steele (piano); the Morpheme Saxophone Quartet whose members include Spencer Sosnowski (soprano sax), Patrick Lenz (alto sax), Mollie McInnis (tenor sax), and Mitchell Brackett (baritone sax); and the Ursino String Quartet that included Ricardo Gomez and Molly Hines (violin), Joshua Thaver (viola), and William Danheim (cello).

The fourteen students named above will travel to New York City May 24-27 and will perform in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available for this performance through the Carnegie Hall Box Office, beginning on March 1, or through the Baylor University School of Music by contacting Jillian Gusukuma (jill_gusukuma@baylor.edu).