Contact: Maridith Geuder
Mississippi Music Teachers Association winners from MSU include (front, l-r) Christopher Armstrong, Marcus Washington, (back, l-r) Bill Harned, Josh Gray, Katie Ingram, and Cynthia Wharton.
Six Mississippi State music education and music majors are among top winners in recent student performance competition sponsored by the Mississippi Music Teachers Association.
The university's group of 2004 honorees include (by hometown):
COLUMBUS--Freshman Joshua O. Gray, first place in jazz solo guitar. He is the son of James Gray of Columbus and Katherine Gray of Jackson [39216].
GOOSE CREEK, S.C.--Marcus L. Washington, first place in chamber music and first-place alternate in solo clarinet. He is the son of Ann Dorsey.
GROVE CITY, Ohio--Cynthia M. Wharton, first place in chamber music (freshman/sophomore division). She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Kirk [43123].
KOSCIUSKO--Christopher L. Armstrong, second place in solo clarinet. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Scott Gibson of Kosciusko and Mr. and Mrs. Richard Armstrong.
STARKVILLE--William L. "Bill" Harned, first place in both solo piano and chamber music. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Horace H. Harned Jr.
WEST POINT--Katie M. Ingram, honorable mention in concerto division (junior and senior). She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mike Ingram.
More than 400 teachers of elementary-university students are members of the association, which sponsors the annual challenge. This year's event was held at Hinds Community College.
"We're extremely proud of our students' accomplishments, since they competed with students from every Mississippi college and university," said MSU assistant professor Rosangela Sebba, who teaches piano.
Clarinet instructor Sheri Falcone and Michael Patilla, a lecturer in guitar, are other music education department faculty members with winning students in this year's competition.