Rice Shepherd School Musicians Selected for NY Phil Global Academy Fellowship Program

Six Rice University students have been selected to participate in the New York Philharmonic Global Academy Fellowship Program. The program is part of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy partnership between Rice’s Shepherd School of Music and the New York Philharmonic that was launched in fall 2015.

The students selected were from the wind, brass, and percussion studios of the Shepherd School: John Diodati (clarinet), Tamer Edlebi (oboe), Daniel Egan (trumpet), Kayla Faurie (flute), Robert O’Brien (percussion), and Benjamin Roidl-Ward (bassoon).

They will travel to New York in April 2017 to participate in a week of immersive activities in New York as Zarin Mehta Fellows, including training and playing alongside Philharmonic musicians, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, The Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic; mock auditions; individual lessons and chamber music sessions coached by Philharmonic musicians; and participation in the Philharmonic’s educational programs. The program will culminate in a private chamber music concert featuring the Fellows alongside Philharmonic musicians.

Auditions were held November 28–29 at the Shepherd School by Philharmonic Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill, bassoonist Roger Nye, trumpet player Ethan Bensdorf, and Principal Timpani Markus Rhoten, all of whom also played with and coached a Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra rehearsal.

The Global Academy Fellowship Program is a key component of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, customized collaborations with partners worldwide that offer intensive training of pre-professional musicians by New York Philharmonic members. The program represents a new approach to preparing the next generation of world-class musicians for successful careers. The Shepherd School is the first U.S. conservatory program to partner with the New York Philharmonic in this innovative initiative.