4 IU students win Latin American music awards

Latin American music filled Recital Hall on Sunday as 11 Jacobs School of Music students showed off their musical abilities.

In the final round of the Latin American Music Center’s annual Performance of Music from Spain and Latin America competition, four Jacobs school students came out on top. Winners were awarded a cash prize as well as the opportunity to record a CD of their performed pieces.

I-Jeng Yeh, a doctoral student in flute performance, tied for first place with senior Evan Mitchell in the open interpretation category.

“I felt really good about playing in the final round,” Yeh said. “The other competitors were strong.”

In memoriam of the famous Brazilian composer and pianist, Mitchell was also given the Jacques Klein prize for the best interpretation of Brazilian solo piano music.

“Simply having a good recording of the repertoire I made was certainly rewarding enough,” Mitchell said.

Winning the grand prize in the special focus category, piano trio, was Veronique Mathieu, a doctoral student in violin performance, Andre Micheletti, a doctoral student in cello performance, and Jasmin Arakawa, a doctoral student in piano performance.

Arakawa, a previous winner, could not win the prize but was able to assist her trio.
Micheletti said he credits his trio’s success to its members’ ability to work well as a unit.

While getting onstage can be nerve-wracking, some competitors said it didn’t faze them in the least.

“I try to think about the music and how I can make it exciting,” Yeh said. “I try to get into the character of music as much as possible.”

Luiz Lopes, LAMC research coordinator and stand-in moderator for the competition, said six judges evaluated the level of the performers’ creativity, the quality of their work and their ability to showcase their research in the pieces they chose.

“Although most of the judges are selected from IU School of Music faculty members, we always try to have guest jurors from other institutions, as well as other IU departments,” Lopes said.

Fred Hammond from the University of Indianapolis and Javier Leon from the department of folklore and ethnomusicology were judges in this year’s competition, he said.

All the winners will record a documentary CD that will be featured on the LAMC’s Web site.

Along with the recording opportunity, the first-place winners will also travel to one city for a single performance, Lopes said.

“To work this hard and get recognized – it is all very exciting,” Micheletti said.