Monday, February 24, 2014

2014 Sphinx Senior Division Laureates: 1st Place, Xavier Foley, double bass; 2nd Place, Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, violin; 3rd Place, Nicholas Mariscal, cello

1st Place: Xavier Foley - double bass

2nd Place: Clayton Penrose-Whitmore - violin

3rd Place: Nicholas Mariscal - cello


1st Place: Xavier Foley - double bass
Sphinx Virtuosi
Sphinx Competition
    2014 Senior Division Semi-Finalist - age 19
    2013 Senior Division Semi-Finalist - age 18
    2011 Junior Division second place Laureate - age 16
    2010 Junior Division Semi-Finalist - age 15


Bio

Xavier Dubois Foley (Born August 9, 1994) is a classically trained double bassist who currently studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. He was taught by Douglas Sommer before his acceptance to the Curtis Institute (2011), where he is now being taught by Hal Robinson and Edgar Meyer.

Xavier was part of a music program that provided free lessons, and tickets to observe the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Concerts. This program is known as the “Talent Development Program”, which is also part of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

2nd Place: Clayton Penrose-Whitmore - violin
Sphinx Virtuosi, violin

Sphinx Competition

    2014 Senior Division Semi-Finalist - age 20
    2008 Junior Division first place Laureate - age 14
    2006 Junior Division fourth place Laureate - age 12

Bio
Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, 20, attends the New England Conservatory of Music where he is a violin performance major studying with faculty member Nicholas Kitchen.

Clayton was the First Place Junior Division Laureate in the 2008 Sphinx Competition. He has appeared as a soloist with the New World Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Hartford Symphony, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Ypsilanti Symphony, the Jacksonville Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Alton Symphony Orchestra.


As a member of the Emerald String Quartet, Clayton was awarded the Silver Medal in the Junior Division at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The quartet also received the Gold Medal at the 2010 Saint Paul String Quartet Competition. They were awarded first place in the Jules M. Laser Chamber Music Competition and were the Open Division Overall Winner of the Chicago National Chamber Music Competition.

3rd Place: Nicholas Mariscal - cello
Sphinx Competition
    2014 Senior Division Semi-Finalist - age 21

Bio
Nicholas Mariscal is a 21-year-old cellist currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of distinguished cellist Eric Kim. He has won numerous competitions and awards and has had many distinctions both as a cellist and a composer.

A native of Tucson, Arizona, Nicholas won a medal each year he participated in the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra’s Concerto Competition, including two gold medals and two concerto performances with the orchestra. In addition, he won concerto competitions of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, leading to solo performances with both orchestras.

Nicholas is an alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Camp, where he was a member of the prestigious World Youth Symphony Orchestra for two summers. He was principal cellist of the orchestra for five of the twelve weeks he attended the camp, leading the cello section under such distinguished conductors as David Effron, JoAnn Falletta, and Jung-Ho Pak. He was awarded a prize in music for cello both summers he was there.

In the Jacobs School of Music, Nicholas has had numerous successes and important performances. In 2010, he was one of twelve music students awarded the Jacobs Scholarship, the largest scholarship awarded at the Jacobs School. He is currently the principal cellist of the school’s top orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra, and has also served as principal of the school’s Chamber Orchestra and New Music Ensemble. Recently, he has performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with an Ad Hoc orchestra, as well as Sofia Gubaidulina’s Cello Concerto “Canticle of the Sun” with the Jacobs School’s Contemporary Vocal Ensemble under the direction of Dominick DiOrio.

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