(Left to right: Everett Rutledge, Peter Smith, Andres Ayerbe; photo by Colin McCall)

10 April, 2021

Third Prize Winner: Brahms Trio

“We are grateful to have had this opportunity because it brought some much-needed normalcy to this very unusual school year.”

Clarinetist Everett Rutledge (MM ’21, clarinet) is currently a second-year Master’s student, studying with Daniel Gilbert and Chad Burrow. He received his Bachelor’s degree (cum laude) at Tennessee Technological University (Tech), where he studied with Mark J. Cramer, Jacqueline Eichhorn, and Wonkak Kim. Rutledge has distinguished himself in many ways: in 2019, he received honorable mention in the Joan Derryberry Memorial Concerto Competition at Tech, and he co-founded the Ventus Reed Quintet, where he served as bass clarinetist until his graduation. In 2018, he was a finalist in the Nashville Philharmonic Concerto Competition and was the winner of the Young Artist division of the Music Teachers National Association Competition. His woodwind trio, the Picardy Third, also placed second in the Music Teachers National Associations Chamber Group Competition that year. Cellist Andres Ayerbe (BM ’24, cello) is a first-year undergraduate from Houston, Texas. A student of Richard Aaron, he is currently pursuing a dual degree in Cello Performance and Data Science. In 2019, he placed first in both the Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and the Senior String Division of the Clear Lake Concerto Competition, performing with both of their ensembles in the spring of that year. He has attended the Meadowmount School of Music, where he studied with Julia Lichten and performed in masterclasses with Lynn Harrell and Jeffrey Solow. Additionally, Ayerbe has performed in masterclasses with Clive Greensmith, Hannah Roberts, Brinton Smith, and the members of the Juilliard Quartet. He was formerly in the Houston Youth Symphony and was also in a string quartet that brought classical music to underprivileged areas, something he wishes to continue doing throughout his musical career. Pianist Peter Smith (MM ’22, piano) has performed extensively throughout ten different states. In 2019, he performed Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Xian Zhang, Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, as the winner of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) Concerto Competition. He has distinguished himself in numerous additional competitions, including the Neapolitan Masters Competition and the NOMEA Competition of Italy, the World Piano Teachers Association Finland Competition, and several domestic competitions. Smith received both his high school diploma and his Bachelor’s degree from UNCSA, studying with Eric Larsen, Artistic Director of the Meadowmount School of Music, and Dmitri Shteinberg. In the future, he hopes to pursue a DMA in collaborative piano. Smith is currently a first-year Master’s student, studying with Arthur Greene.