Bodurek wins Gallaher Memorial Music Performance Competition
Alyssa Bodurek of Florence won the 30th annual A. Frank and Bethel C. Gallaher Memorial Music Performance Competition at Morehead State University.
The award, presented each spring to a junior music major, includes a $1,000 cash prize and the honor of performing at the Caudill College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Academic Honors and Awards Convocation.
A junior music education major, Bodurek studies clarinet with Dr. Lori Baruth, associate professor of music. Bodurek is a recipient of the W. Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Scholarship for Study of the Arts, and serves as vice president of MSU’s National Association for Music Education. She was the 2016 Morehead State University Marching Band Field Commander, and a 2017 Kentucky Intercollegiate Band Participant. She also is a member of Symphony Band, Sapphire Winds Woodwind Quintet and the Clarinet Choir.
The Gallaher competition, endowed in 1987, was named for the late Ashland businessman A. Frank Gallaher and his wife, who were the parents of Dr. Christopher Gallaher, former chair of MSU’s Department of Music.
The Gallaher family made their living as business owners in Ashland. In the late 1940s they began with a drive-in restaurant, then started a market, the Ashland Food Fair, and later Gallaher’s Pharmacy. Neither parent was a professional musician, but they shared a love for music and encouraged their children to explore music. As a result of this encouragement, two of three children became professional musicians. The third became active in the family business.
All full-time junior level music majors, with at least a 2.75 grade point average, may compete for the Gallaher Scholarship. To participate, a student must perform from memory a work that is eight to 10 minutes in length. Preliminary auditions are held in December with the final competition in April.
Contributions to the A. Frank and Bethel C. Gallaher Memorial Music Performance Competition may be made through the MSU Foundation Inc., by calling 606-783-2033.
Additional information on the competition is available by calling the School of Music, Theatre and Dance at 606-783-2473.
