Congratulations to the winners of the 2021-22 Joan Terr Ronis Annual Memorial Recital Prize! Julia Feng-Bahns, piano and Harue Suzuki, flute earned this honor by demonstrating exceptional musicianship in their spring jury auditions, which were conducted remotely with video submissions evaluated by a panel of faculty members, including Dr. Andrew Kluth, Dr. Kathleen Horvath, and Dr. Benjamin Helton. Compliments to our many wonderful performers and a special thank you to our staff accompanists, Alicja Basinska and Anne Wilson.
As co-winners of the prize, both students will receive a monetary award and be honored at the undergraduate awards ceremony in the spring of 2022. More importantly, should conditions permit, Julia and Harue will jointly perform the Ronis Memorial Recital in October 2021 (date TBA). If conditions do not allow an in-person recital at that time, we will explore other options to showcase their wonderful talents.
Julia Feng-Bahns, piano
(Gerardo Teissonnière)
Julia Feng-Bahns, is a fourth-year biochemistry major at CWRU pursuing a secondary major in music. Since beginning her studies in piano at the age of five, she has placed in several state competitions and has participated in a variety of music festivals. Most recently, she performed in the InterHarmony International Music Festival in Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Bavaria, Germany in 2019. Outside of music, she serves as a copy editor for The Observer, and she is currently involved in a biochemistry research lab. Julia is grateful for her piano teacher from home, Niva Fried, her private instructor at CIM, Gerardo Teissonnière, and the CWRU Music Department as a whole for cultivating her passion for the piano and deepening her understanding of music, which she hopes will continue to develop throughout her lifetime.
Harue Suzuki, flute
(Heidi Ruby-Kushious)
Harue Suzuki, is a fourth-year music education major at CWRU pursuing a minor in mathematics. In addition to her private flute and piano studies, she has performed principal flute, piccolo, and piano in many ensembles including the Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Winds, and Woodwind Chamber Music. Harue was awarded the CWRU Music Performing Arts Scholarship when she was accepted into the music education program. Harue has a passion for music education and has previously won various awards and competitions including the President’s Education Award, Erie County Music Educators Association Scholarship Award, Carol Adragna Family Foundation Award, National Federation of Music Clubs Award, Friends of the Amherst Symphony Orchestra/Williamsville Rotary Music Scholarship, Williamsville Music Boosters Senior Scholarship, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s Young Musicians Scholarship finalist, and Claudette Sorel Piano Competition finalist. She is thoroughly enjoying the unique opportunity that CWRU has given her to comprehensively focus on all aspects of musical study. Harue would like to thank her Joint Music Program flute instructor, Heidi Ruby-Kushious, and all of her teachers for continuing to inspire her to develop as a musician and educator.
Thank you to all of our performers:
Will Friedland, horn
(Meghan Guegold)
Jeremy Gray, clarinet
(Dan Gilbert)
Madelon Jensen, flute
(Heidi Ruby-Kushious)
Olivia Laniak, voice
(Denise Milner-Howell)
Hana Lee, flute
(Heidi Ruby-Kushious)
Caleb Owens, piano
(Gerardo Teissonnière)
Anna Skelton, popular voice
(Joan Ellison)
Andrew Smeader, violin
(Stephen Sims)
Venice Villescas, flute
(Heidi Ruby-Kushious)
About the recital prize:
Leonard Ronis established the Joan Terr Ronis Recital Prize in 1996 as a memorial to his wife, the well-known Cleveland piano soloist, chamber music artist and teacher. The prize and recital are presented after a competition held each spring among undergraduate music students attending CWRU. Mr. Ronis, a lifelong supporter of CWRU and the arts, was nationally known for his role in public transit. With his passing on July 4, 2012, the family requested that the prize be renamed the Leonard and Joan Terr Ronis Memorial Recital Prize. The prize returned to its original name during the summer of 2020.
Previous winners:
- 2020-21 | Dana D’Orlando (oboe), Allison Siekmann (violin)
- 2019-20 | Diane Jo (violin), Karen Ji (piano)
- 2018-19 | Devin Reddy (horn), Jason Linn (trombone)
- 2017-18 | William Spallino (trombone), Madeline Yankell (soprano)
- 2016-17 | Rebecca Pfeiffer (trumpet), Vincenzo Volpe (flute)
- 2015-16 | Ryan Rose (saxophone), Ruolin Yang (violin)
- 2014-15 | Sydney Vereb (flute), Jeff Einhaus (tuba)
- 2013-14 | Lok Lei (violin), Nicholas Valentas (percussion)
- 2012-13 | Frankie Delgado (bassoon), Nathan Budge (euphonium)
- 2011-12 | Francis Blackman (voice), Dora Wu (violin)
- 2010-11 | Alyssa Hoffert (saxophone)
- 2009-10 | Karl Beheim (clarinet)