COLUMBUS, Ind. – Heritage Fund-The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County has announced Columbus North senior Jasmine Yang and Columbus East senior Gavin Foley as the winners of the 2024 Brown Music Competition hosted Saturday from the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s Helen Haddad Hall.
Yang, a student of piano instructor Martha Erickson, won the Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence, performing “Malaguena” from “Andalucia” by Lecuona.
Foley, a tenor student of Jenny Heichelbech, won the Anna Newell Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence, singing “My Lady Walks in Loveliness” by Charles and “Torna a Surriento” by Bautista de Curtis.
Both students receive $3,500 scholarship awards. Twenty-one students took part in the competition.
Other senior award winners were:
- Instrumental – Sreepadaarchana Munjuluri, $2,500; Emma Cloud, $1,000
- Vocal – Amelia Maddox, $2,000; Austin Clark, $1,000; Antoinette Hughes, $500
Underclass award winners were:
- Instrumental – Santi De Luna, $2,000; Grace Huang, $2,000; Rishabh Rajesh, $2,000
- Vocal – Rebekah Woodruff, $2,000; Rebeca Natalie Cantu Garcia, $1,000; Elizabeth Alderfer, $500; Annie Green, $500
The Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence were established by Mr. Brown in 1992 in memory of his wife, Betty. Mrs. Brown was a well-known and highly respected advocate and patron of the arts. The Anna Newell Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence were established through the Heritage Fund in 1985 by Robert and Betty Brown to honor Mr. Brown’s mother, Anna Newell Brown. She was a distinguished vocalist and contributed greatly to the cultural life of Bartholomew County.
Robert N. Brown was the longtime chairman of Home News Enterprises, The Republic’s parent company. He also served as chairman of the Heritage Fund Board from 1980 to 1983, during which the foundation awarded its first grant – a $500 award for the Art in Public Places Program.
Both competitions are administered annually by Heritage Fund.