Six young musicians won thousands of dollars in scholarships by competing in the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation's annual music competition held April 28 at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito. .
Eleven finalists performed at the event, and a panel of expert judges selected first and second place winners in the Adult Instrumentalist, Junior Instrumentalist, and Vocalist categories. Prizes ranged from $500 to $6,000 for a total of $26,000.
This year's winner in the vocal music category was soprano Eva Zimmer, 22, a third-year student at Westmont University. Second place went to Zeni Tsiuvalas, 29, a mezzo-soprano and freelance vocalist who began her international opera career after graduating from the Manhattan School of Music.
The 2024 Adult Instrumentalist winner was pianist Tiffany Yin, 23, who just completed her Bachelor of Music degree in UCSB's Piano Performance program. She will pursue a Master of Music degree in piano performance at UCSB in the fall.
Second place in the Adult Instrumentalist category was violist Cam Audras, 25, who just completed his Master of Music degree in UCSB's Viola Performance Program. Odras is a freelance violist and principal violist for several regional orchestras and ensembles.
Henry Woodruff (16) won first place in the junior instrumentalist category. He is a violist and a student at the Colburn Academy of Music in Los Angeles. Second place went to Joey Malvinni (16), a classical guitarist and senior at Dos Pueblos High School.
Honorable mention went to tenor singer Lorenzo Johnson Jr. (27). Pianist Noel Hadsall, 15 years old. Pianist Leon Guo, 15 years old. Pianist Jiyu Kimjeong, 15 years old. and pianist Matvej Ioffe (15).
The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support performing arts students in the Santa Barbara community. For more information about PASF, visit pasfsb.org.