In front of a sold-out audience at its 21st annual gala, the Palm Beach Symphony introduced three local students as the Lisa Bruna B-Major Award honorees. As honorees, the students receive upper-level instruments suitable for college auditions and to launch their careers.
Julianna Bramble, from Wellington, was honored as the first-place winner and performed before the delighted gala audience on a viola and the new bow she received as her prize. The bow is by Vladimir Radosaveljevic Bows and features ebony from Gabon, Africa, and wood from Pernambuco, Brazil.
Bramble, who is 18, is currently studying with Teng Li at the Colburn Music Academy in Los Angeles and attended the Eastern Music Festival 2019, Heifetz International Music Institute 2020 and 2021, and Meadowmount School of Music 2022.
Other recognitions include winning first place at the 2021 Festival of the Arts Boca Music Competition and receiving honorable mention in the 2021 Alhambra Concerto Competition. In addition, she was selected to participate in the New World Symphony Side-by-Side Orchestra 2020 and 2021 and the Florida Allstate Orchestra from 2018 to 2021. She also performed at the New World Center in the Viola Visions Festival.
Bobbi Zimmelman, a senior at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts who resides in Boynton Beach, received a clarinet as the second-place winner. Makens Joseph, a resident of West Palm Beach and is also a senior at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, received a tuba as the third-place winner.
Palm Beach Symphony CEO David McClymont made the announcement saying, “Of course, every musician starts somewhere, and with your help, the Palm Beach Symphony helps nurture and develop young musicians from first grade through young adulthood. One of our most impactful programs is the Lisa Bruna B-Major Award.”
Through a yearly audition process, the symphony awards the Lisa Bruna B-Major Award to one to three high school seniors in Palm Beach County who are planning to pursue a degree program. Winners work closely with the symphony to identify, test and select the ideal advanced-level instrument.
