School of Music to honor top musicians at Hollis Prize Competition

Millikin University's School of Music will present the 15th annual Hollis Prize Competition Recital on Saturday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. in Kaeuper Hall, Perkinson Music Center, on Millikin's campus. The Hollis Prize is the highest award that may be received by a student instrumentalist or vocalist within the School of Music. The recital will feature performances by Millikin University's top three music performing students. The event is free and open to the public, no reservations or tickets required.

This year's finalists are Wally Pochron, a senior music performance-instrumental major from La Grange, Ill.; Michael Anderson, a senior music performance-instrumental major from Chicago, Ill.; and Madeline Moylan, a junior music performance-instrumental major from Breese, Ill.

First awarded in spring 2003, Millikin is one of only a few schools in the country to offer this type of prestigious prize through a music competition. The winner of the Hollis Prize is chosen by outside faculty judges and receives a $2000 award; runners-up each receive $500.

The Hollis Prize Recital is generously funded by Dr. C. Kimm Hollis, a 1972 Millikin graduate, and professor of music and artist in residence at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind.

Hollis Prize Performers

Wally Pochron, percussion

Originally from La Grange, Ill., Wally Pochron is a senior music performance major at Millikin University and percussion instructor with the Preparatory Department. He enjoys performing a wide variety of styles, and is currently a member of the Millikin-Decatur Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Latin Jazz Project, Jazz Combo and Jazz Band.

Pochron has performed at the Jazz Education Network Conference, Midwest Clinic for Band and Orchestra and Havana Jazz Festival. As a soloist and Latin percussionist, Pochron has performed in masterclasses or studied with Katarzyna Mycka, Ronnie Kot Wenzell, Jose Eladio Amat, Alejandro Carvajal Guerra, Donald Skoog and previous Hollis Prize recipient Angela Kepley. While at Millikin, Pochron is a student of Brian Justison, professor of music, and Jeremy Brunk, assistant professor of music at Millikin.

Pochron has been accepted into the graduate program at Eastern Illinois University, or may pursue a freelance career in the Chicagoland area.

Michael Anderson, alto and baritone saxophone

Michael Anderson is a senior instrumental performance major studying saxophone with Dr. Perry Rask, professor of music at Millikin. Anderson attended Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Ill., where he played baritone saxophone in the top groups all four years.

While at Millikin University, Anderson has been a member of the Millikin Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band I, Saxophone Quartet I, Latin Percussion and Jazz Combo I. As a student at Millikin, Anderson has had the opportunity to travel with the top jazz combo to Columbia, South America to work with students in the area, and to Havana, Cuba with the Millikin Latin Jazz Project to perform at the Havana Jazz Festival.

Most recently, Anderson was chosen as one of two students to perform with the Millikin Symphonic Wind Ensemble during a concert on April 23, 2017. He will be playing "Fantasia for Alto Saxophone" by Claude T. Smith. As lead alto in Jazz Band I, Anderson has been recognized as an outstanding soloist at the annual Elmhurst Jazz Festival for the past three years.

Following his studies at Millikin, Anderson intends to enroll at Minnesota State College Southeast in Red Wing, Minn., to pursue instrument repair. Anderson will continue performing with hopes of attending graduate school for saxophone and jazz studies.

Madeline Moylan, flute

Madeline Moylan, a native of Breese, Ill., is a junior flute performance major and plays flute and piccolo in the Millikin Wind Ensemble, Millikin Decatur Symphony Orchestra, Millikin Flute Choir and the Eidolan Quintet. She has performed as a featured soloist with the Millikin Wind Ensemble in Spring 2015, as well as in masterclasses for Bernard Goldberg, retired principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and Sir James Galway, renowned international flute soloist.

Recently, Moylan spent a semester abroad in Dublin, Ireland studying at the Royal Irish Academy of Music with William Dowdall and had the opportunity to perform with the Royal Irish Academy of Music Junior Wind Band at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

As well as pursuing her degree in flute performance, Moylan studies piano with Dr. Silvan Negrutiu, assistant professor of music at Millikin, and has performed in student recitals and for guest artists presenting masterclasses at Millikin. She is a member of Millikin’s Music Fraternity for Women, Sigma Alpha Iota, Millikin Piano Club and the Millikin Flute Society. Moylan is an Honors student, a Presidential Scholar and a James Millikin Scholar. Recently, she became a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Kappa Phi honors societies.

In the future, Moylan aspires to perform as an orchestral musician and teach at the college level. After graduation, she plans on continuing her studies in music.

The mission of the Millikin School of Music is to develop the whole musician – artistically, intellectually, technically – through the integration of theory and practice in an environment where students become active learners through their relationships with faculty, who themselves continue to grow as artists, scholars, and teachers. For more information on the School of Music, visit millikin.edu/music.