UK Alumna Receives Fellowship With Civic Orchestra of Chicago

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 6, 2015) — University of Kentucky alumna and French horn player Melanie Erena is continuing her successful music career as the recipient of a two-year fellowship awarded by the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. As part of the fellowship program, Erena will occasionally be called upon to play in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as receive mentorship from orchestra members along the way.

Before arriving at the UK School of Music, Erena attended Lafayette High School and took horn lessons from Joanne Filkins, director of UK School of Music Student Affairs. Upon completion of her high school degree, the musician chose to continue her studies at UK where she studied with David Elliott, associate professor of French horn. In 2010, Erena was one of three winners of the UK Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition giving her the prestigious opportunity to perform a solo with the orchestra. She was also a recipient of the school's O. Helton Memorial Acres Scholarship, which recognizes the accomplishments of an outstanding member of the school and music body.

Erena graduated summa cum laude from UK in December 2011 with bachelor's degrees in music performance and music education and a 4.0 GPA. She then attended Northwestern University, where she received a master's degree in performance and studied with Gail Williams, a former co-principal hornist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

As a talented musician, Erena has traveled internationally to perform in places such as Canada, Europe and China. She has also performed in many famous venues in the United States including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center and Cleveland's Severance Hall.

The Civic Orchestra is regarded as one of the most respected music training programs for emerging musicians in the United States. Through the direction of Principal Conductor Cliff Colnot, musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Ricardo Muti and the many guest artists who perform at the Symphony Center each season, Civic has become one of Chicago's greatest cultural and educational resources.

The Civic Orchestra is well-known for serving the Chicago community by presenting free, high quality concerts at Symphony Center as well as free, interactive chamber music performances in schools and community locations throughout the city. Additionally, the Civic Orchestra is a signature program of the Negaunee Music Institute at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The institute works hard to offer pathways for both musicians and audiences to develop as citizens musicians by promoting the power of music to create connections and build community.

The UK School of Music at UK College of Fine Arts has garnered a national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, composition, and theory and music history.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu