Amber Carpenter, music alumna and harpist, won first prize in the Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists presented by the Appalachian Summer Festival and Appalachian State University.
Carpenter graduated from the UNC Charlotte Department of Music in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance (harp) and a minor in voice. She completed a graduate certificate in vocal pedagogy in May 2014.
Public and private colleges/universities in North Carolina can submit up to eight performers – rising seniors or recent graduates – for the competition. From those entries, seven finalists were selected by a distinguished jury that consisted of four conductors with ties to North Carolina: Gerard Schwarz (Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Eastern Music Festival), Robert Moody (Portland Symphony Orchestra and the Winston-Salem Symphony), Jacomo Bairos (Amarillo Symphony Orchestra and former assistant conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra) and Roger Kalia (current assistant conductor of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra).
In the competition, Carpenter tied for first place with mezzo-soprano Diana Yodzis. No second place was awarded. UNC Charlotte faculty member Ginger Wyrick accompanied Carpenter during the competition.
Carpenter’s award includes a $2,000 cash prize and the honor of retuning to Boone next summer to perform a concerto during the Appalachian Summer Festival, with Schwarz conducting.