Ruth Burr Competition

Sebastian Petzinger is pursuing a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the Shepherd School of Music to be awarded in 2027.  This will be his third Master of Music degree, as he already has earned one from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2025 and one from Ohio University in 2023.  He has had extensive performance experience with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, the Owensboro Symphony and the West Virginia Symphony among others.  Sebastian was a super finalist in The U.S. Coast Guard Band Audition in 2025, an audition finalist in The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in 2024 and a semifinalist in the U.S. Marine Band “President’s Own” audition in 2024.  In his statement of plans and aspirations he wrote, “My ultimate aspiration for the future is to play in a major U.S. orchestra full-time while maintaining a career a guest soloist.  Music has been such a transformative force in my life….”

Cirdan Vonnahme is an undergraduate at the Shepherd School of Music pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree.  He was an Honoree of the Seattle Young Artists Concerto Division in 2021 and the winner of the Alaska Concerto Competition in 2017 and 2024. Cirdan performed with the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra from 2020 to 2024 and the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra in 2026.  He performs with the Shepherd School of Music Symphony as well as in its chamber programs.  As he wrote in his statement of plans and aspirations, “I hope to play in a chamber group or orchestra professionally after completing my studies.”

Jane Story is an undergraduate at the Shepherd School of Music pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance to be awarded in 2029.  Jane already has had vast experience performing with symphony orchestras such as the Wisconsin Youth Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra among many others. Among her many honors, she won the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition in 2024 and 2026, was a semifinalist in the Shepherd School Concerto Competition in 2026, and won second prize in the La Crosse Rising Stars Competition in 2025.  Jane also performed on NPR’s “From the Top” in 2022 and was featured on the “From the Top 25” album, released in 2026.  In her statement of plans and aspirations she wrote “I hope to pursue a Master’s degree in violin performance before beginning a full-time orchestral career.  Ideally, I would like to continue performing chamber and solo repertoire throughout my career as well.”