Celebrating 12 years of extraordinary musical competition, student musicians from around the world came together for the Rotary Club of Tulsa Crescendo Music Awards in Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete for cash awards of over $37,000.
Representing 31 different schools and universities, students competed in the Piano division, the Vocal division and the String division before a distinguished adjudication panel of judges consisting of world-renowned music educators, composers and performers from some of America’s finest schools of music.
The High School competition took place on Thursday, March 11 on the campus of Oral Roberts University. All nine judges participated in the competition and announced Gold Medal winners, Betsy Hays, a senior at Edison Preparatory School in Tulsa, in the Vocal division, and Lindsay Pierce, a junior at Booker T. Washington in Tulsa, in the Piano division. These students performed at the Finals performance Saturday, March 13 where the collegiate competition featured 3 semifinalists in 3 divisions.
In the String division, the winners were Siwoo Kim, Violin, The Juilliard School, Gold Medal, Sunnat Ibragimov, Cello, Park University, Silver Medal and Rachel Wong, Violin, University of Texas, Bronze Medal.
In the Vocal division, the winners were Desiree Dillon, Soprano, Oklahoma City University, Gold Medal, Sasha Hashemipour, Mezzo Soprano, Manhattan School of Music, Silver Medal and Tyson Miller, Tenor, Baylor University, Bronze Medal.
In the Piano division, the winners were Shijun Wang, The Juilliard School, Gold Medal, Scott Cuellar, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Silver Medal and Sophia Munoz, Mannes the New School of Music, Bronze Medal.
Mr. Wang was also awarded The People’s Choice Award in the amount of $2,500. This special award was again funded by Marilyn Inhofe Davis in honor of her sister Joan Inhofe Johnson. The winner of this award is determined by audience vote.
The Crescendo Music Awards committee is extremely appreciative of the many volunteers from the Rotary Club of Tulsa and the growing number of donors and sponsors without whose generosity the competition and concert would not be possible.
Community partnerships with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, the Signature Symphony at TCC and the Tulsa Opera have enhanced the prestige of the event and placed it as one of the premiere student musician competitions in the nation.
The High School competition took place on Thursday, March 11 on the campus of Oral Roberts University. All nine judges participated in the competition and announced Gold Medal winners, Betsy Hays, a senior at Edison Preparatory School in Tulsa, in the Vocal division, and Lindsay Pierce, a junior at Booker T. Washington in Tulsa, in the Piano division. These students performed at the Finals performance Saturday, March 13 where the collegiate competition featured 3 semifinalists in 3 divisions. 
