Students Show Their Talent at Music Festival

June 1, 2024

Eastern Washington University students took home gold, silver and bronze while competing with 1,000 musicians from throughout the region at MusicFest Northwest.

Dozens of EWU students majoring and minoring in music turned out for the nationally-acclaimed competition, held May 13-18 at The Fox Theater and on the Gonzaga University Campus.

The 79-year-old festival is open to musicians ranging from elementary age to college students. Adjudicators come from throughout the country and provide master-level workshops for all divisions, including voice, strings, reeds, brass, piano and ballet. Student performances earn medals, with some competing musicians earning the opportunity to perform with the Spokane Symphony.

EWU is a sponsor of the festival, and a number of faculty members from the university’s music program volunteer their time to ensure the 6-daylong event goes off without a hitch. Faculty contributing to this effort include Nicole Sonbert, John Marshall, Dawn Wolski, Amanda Howard-Phillips, Steve Friel, Ben Cleveland and Jody Graves.

Congratulations to the following students for winning top awards!

Yunju Cho, Violin
Chamber Music | Gold
String Sonata | Silver