Carmel Student, Monika Dziubelski Awarded College Scholarship from WCYO

Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra (WCYO) is happy to announce it awarded a $1,000 College Scholarship to Jillian Paulin of Bethel High School and a $500 College Scholarship to Monika Dziubelski of Carmel High School.

Both students are graduating musicians in the WCYO’s Symphony Orchestra and won the scholarships based on an essay competition on the theme of what the WCYO has meant to them personally and as a musician.

Jillian, a violist, will be attending Colgate University in the fall and plans to major in Physics. Her essay reflected how the WCYO has helped her grow as a musician, meeting her goal of making All-State Orchestra this year, growing her confidence as she learned to collaborate with her fellow musicians in a supportive environment, and even as a scientist:

“Due to the caliber of the music we play, I have become a more patient problem solver.  This allowed me to persevere through the completion of a science research project on quasars...in which I had to analyze 11,680 rows of data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.”

Monika, a flutist and the 2018 winner of the WCYO Concerto Competition, will be attending Bard College. She joined the WCYO at age 14 and spent one year in the Wind Ensemble before joining the Symphony Orchestra where she challenged herself to practice more, and “thrived under the pressure” of improving her skills. She credits music and the WCYO with helping her grow emotionally:

“...as I grew to be more expressive in my playing, I realized that there is nothing quite as moving as the fervent demonstration of vulnerability that comes with playing music with passion. The WCYO, with its accepting and welcoming atmosphere, helped me to put my heart on my sleeve, and wear it proudly.”

The scholarships were funded by the families, staff, and board members of the WCYO, a true community effort. Jillian and Monika along with all 2019 graduates were recognized at the WCYO’s spring concert at the Visual and Performing Arts Center of Western Connecticut State University on June 2nd.  

The WCYO, founded in 2002 and based out of Ridgefield, CT, consists of nearly one hundred auditioned musicians, ages ten to eighteen, in a symphony orchestra, a string ensemble and a wind ensemble.  Its members are challenged not only to perform at the highest level, but also to build character, creativity and self-esteem, with music as their guide. For information on auditions, repertoire, and more, please visit  www.wctyo.org.  

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Submitted by Carmel, NY

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