Campus Jury Prize for classical guitar goes to Mario Rubano
 From left to right are James Piorkowski, Oasis Guitar Prize winner Mario Rubano, and Evan Drummond. |
The inaugural Oasis Guitar Jury Prize at the SUNY Fredonia School of Music has been awarded to Mario Rubano, a Ferrell, PA area native pursuing degrees in Classical Guitar Performance and Music Therapy along with a minor in Psychology.
Rubano played guitar for 11 years before enrolling at SUNY Fredonia, and has studied classical guitar for the four years with Drummond. He plans to complete an internship in music therapy in the fall 2012 semester.
“This award acknowledges the hard work and dedication it takes for a student like Mario to become the best of the best in SUNY Fredonia’s acclaimed guitar program,” said Jim Piorkowski, Distinguished Professor of Music. Twenty-one students competed for the $500 award, announced at the end of the fall semester.
“We were looking for the student who, at their jury performance, exhibited outstanding improvement in terms of musical expression and technical skills. Mario Rubano beautifully and confidently demonstrated these attributes in his performance,” said Piorkowski, who directs the guitar program and judged the competition with colleague Evan Drummond.
The Oasis Guitar Jury Prize, the first scholarship at SUNY Fredonia designated for Classical Guitar students, was launched by Dave Hepple, founder of Oasis, Inc., creator of the Oasis Guitar humidifier and humidifiers for other string instruments. The award will be given at the conclusion of each semester through spring 2014.
