Sphinx Organisation announces competition winners

Arts-focused non-profit Sphinx Organization has revealed the winners of its annual Sphinx Competition. The competition, now in its 28^th year, took place in Detroit, Michigan last week at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, the home of the Detroit Symphony.

Venezuelan violinist and El Sistema graduate Gabriela Lara was named first prize winner in the competition’s senior division, receiving the $50,000 Robert Frederick Smith Prize, plus opportunities to perform with major American orchestras. The second prize, worth $20,000, was awarded to violist Paul Aguilar, who also received the $5,000 Audience Choice Prize, while third place ($10,000) went to violinist Brendon Elliot.

© Brian Hatton

In the junior division, violinist and Arizona native Jacqueline Rodenbeck (pictured above) won the first prize, receiving $10,000 and solo opportunities with major orchestras. Second Prize went to cellist Sonya Moomaw, who received $5,000, while Third Prize and $3,000 went to violinist Kai Isoke Ali-Landing.

Finalists performed with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, the organisation’s all-Black and Latino orchestra under the direction of Lina Gonzalez-Granados. Throughout the competition, the orchestra’s players, who perform with major orchestras across the US, also served as mentors, providing masterclasses and lectures, and helping competitors understand and address systemic obstacles within the classical community.

Competitor performances were judged by a panel comprising University of Michigan violin professor and Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient Danielle Belen, Philadelphia Orchestra principal bass Joseph Conyers, Primo Artists president and founder Charlotte Lee, cellist, composer and curator Joshua Roman, Carnegie Hall director of Artistic Planning Abhijit Sengupta, Harlem Quartet founding violinist Melissa White and Zoellner Arts Center executive director Mark Wilson.