Current MIller Arts Scholars Award Recipients

Class of 2025

Alex Burijon, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

New York Summer Internships
With the help of the Miller Arts Scholars program, I plan to live in New York City this year from late May through early August to pursue two internships, one in-person within the music industry and one remote in the administrative realm through UVA’s Internship Placement Program. I intend to gain more experience to assist in determining my career path, network among the New York music and theater scenes, work on my vocal proficiency, and earn money.

Faculty Mentor: Noel Lobley
Department: Music

Abby Kim, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

Learning the Viola
My proposal is to learn the viola through both personal study and guidance from Professor Daniel Sender while continuing my studies in violi

Faculty Mentor: Daniel Sender
Department: Music

Meg Kosefeski, Studio Art

Rising 3rd Year Award

1.8 Cents a Can
I’m asking Miller Arts Scholars for about 1000 dollars to achieve this project. Most of the cost accounts for transport, cleaning, and assembly, because the sad fact is trash itself is everywhere; it is extremely easy and inexpensive to work with and source.

Faculty Mentor: Federico Cuatlacuatl
Department: Studio Art

Grace Sellers, Studio Art

Rising 3rd Year Award

Exploring Printmaking through an Ordinary Day
I am requesting $3000 for resources to create a series of prints and explore advanced printmaking techniques.

Faculty Mentor: Akemi Ohira
Department: Studio Art

Amanda Yo, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

Funding for a Piccolo
With my own piccolo, I would be able to practice piccolo pieces/parts on my own time without having to borrow it from the university, which can be difficult to coordinate due to the need of the piccolo in other areas.

Faculty Mentor: Kelly Sulick
Department: Music

Class of 2024

Tyler Burkhardt, Music

Rising 4th Year Award

Eclipse (E.P.)
Last year, for my 3rd year arts award, I recorded an E.P. “Comet” of 4 original songs. The project was a huge success, and I’d like to propose a similar project for this year, but with new music and a new vision.

Faculty Mentor: Mike Rosensky
Department: Music

Tyler Burkhardt, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

Comet (E.P.)
This project will consist of a 4-song, all original E.P. The genre will be primarily modern jazz with hints of fusion and world music. The songs will be primarily instrumental and focus on tonality and meter we don’t hear in popular music today. My stylistic experience in metrically modulating rhythms and shifting modal harmonies will center the album, but each song will be focused on a different aspect of these ideas.

Faculty Mentor: Michael Rosensky
Department: Music

Becca Davis, Drama

Performing Shakespeare: Attending Shakespeare & Company’s Summer Shakespeare Intensive for Actors
I am requesting a $3,000 Miller Arts award to help cover my tuition for the 2023 Summer Shakespeare Intensive for Actors through Shakespeare & Company (May 29-June 26).

Faculty Mentor: Tovah Close
Department: Drama

Jalia Dillard, Drama

Rising 4th Year Award

The People of 276: Persevering Through Generations
I am requesting a grant of $3,000 to aid with the project. This award will support me by enabling me access to a camera, and all of the equipment for video creation.

Faculty Mentor: Mona Kasra
Department: Drama

Elise Ebert, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

Classical Voice Performance Study in Vienna
In Vienna, I will be taking 16 credits, including both Music and German courses. I am very excited for my schedule, which includes a Music Performance Workshop, where I will participate in weekly chamber, solo, and opera theatre performances, join an ensemble of instrumentalists and vocalists, have an in-house collaborative pianist, and learn from guest lecturers and renowned professionals from Vienna. I will also take private lessons and end the semester with my own vocal recital. This recital will help prepare me for my UVA third-year recital, which I will present only 4 months later in the Spring.

Faculty Mentor: John Mayhood
Department: Music

Cecilia Huang (黄馨萌Xinmeng Huang), Drama

Rising 4th Year Award

Directing A Play
During this project, my top priority will fall on the aspect of directing and acting. In the past two years at the Drama Department, I greatly focused on those two areas.

Faculty Mentor: David Dalton
Department: Drama

Emily Hunter, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

Performance Inspiration: A New Perspective
I am asking for funding in three areas: continuing private lessons over the summer with my local instructor in Northern Virginia, attending a New York Philharmonic Orchestra concert, and one private lesson from a New York flutist, recommended by Kelly Sulick. This work will be ultimately presented via two orchestral excerpt recordings: one before I visit New York and one after.

Faculty Mentor: Kelly Sulick
Department: Music

Emily Hunter, Music

Rising 4th Year Award

Investing in my Flute’s Tonal Flexibility
I am proposing to receive funding to upgrade my flute’s head joint. The grant would allow me to invest in my future music career and surpass the limitations of my current instrument for my proposed DMP recital, where I will be performing expressive French flute repertoire.

Faculty Mentor: Kelly Sulick
Department: Music

Heeran Karim, Studio Art

Rising 3rd Year Award

Five Stages of Grief
I plan to create a picture-book of approximately 20 prints associated with the 5 stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Each print will involve a mixture of planography, intaglio, and relief; I hope to have many layers on a single page. Each stage of grief will have 4 prints associated with that certain stage. The story of the book will follow a character in their journey of life; they will experience loss and embark in the five stages of grief. I hope to portray their emotions and process in finding themself and acceptance.

Faculty Mentor: Akemi Ohira
Department: Studio Art

Heeran Karim, Studio Art

Rising 4th Year Award

The Melancholy of Memory
I propose to create a series of seven prints for my Disinguished Majors Program (DMP) show, and I hope to edition and frame each of the pieces.

Faculty Mentor: Akemi Ohira
Department: Studio Art

Anne Kickert

Hyebin Lee, Studio Art

Rising 3rd Year Award

Humans of UVA: Stories to be Heard
I propose that I will make a short documentary series that is about 4 episodes which will be distributed primarily through Youtube. My vision for this project is to tell often untold stories in our UVA community. These digital stories will not be limited to just students and professors.

Faculty Mentor: Mona Kasra
Department: Drama

Hyebin Lee, Studio Art

Rising 4th Year Award

Present in the Past
I propose to make an autoethnographic short I'm and a portrait series exploring my identity as an immigrant Korean American by creatively examining the interactions of three generations: my grandmother, mother, and I. The short film will be distributed through Youtube, and the portrait series will be exhibited at a physical location. This funding will allow me to pursue my passion for visual storytelling, new media art, video art, and film making. The award money will be used for filming equipment and post production expenses.

Faculty Mentor: Mona Kasra
Department: Drama

Cassie Lipton, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

National Flute Association Convention 2022
For many years, I have wanted to attend the National Flute Association Convention, which would involve a similar kind of rich educational experience, but on a much larger scale. This year’s convention is being held at the Hilton Downtown in Chicago, Illinois, and for my rising third-year arts award, I would love to request funding to be able to attend this convention.

Faculty Mentor: Kelley Sulick
Department: Music

Cassie Lipton, Music

Rising 4th Year Award

Exploring Music in the Birthplace of Jazz
I would like to request funding to travel to New Orleans in the Summer of 2023. Known as “the birthplace of jazz,” New Orleans has long been a hotspot and melting pot for musical creativity and a variety of musical cultures.

Faculty Mentor: Kelly Sulick
Department: Music

Talia Pirron, Music

Rising 4th Year Award

Fourth-Year Recital: Reflections
I am proposing support for a fourth-year voice recital which would allow me to present the culmination of my work as a music major and arts scholar at UVA. I am requesting $2500, which I have broken down in detail in my budget below, to be used to support the artistic preparation as well as logistics for putting together said recital.

Faculty Mentor: Bonnie Gordon
Department: Music

Collin White, Dance

Rising 3rd Year Award

Expanding my Dance Training and Preparing for Future Choreographic Work
My project proposal is to attend the Joffrey Ballet School San Francisco summer intensive program from July 25 - August 6, 2022. With this grant, I am hoping to gain more experience within my discipline. At this intensive, I will be able to take ballet, contemporary, modern, pilates, and a variety of other classes throughout the two weeks that I am there.

Faculty Mentor: Katie Schetlick
Department: Dance

Adin Yager, Music

Rising 3rd Year Award

Creating and Performing a “lofi” Album
I am proposing the creation and performance of an album to be completed over this summer and fall. I will be recording, producing, mixing, and mastering the album, and then releasing it to music streaming platforms. Then, I will be creating and performing live sets of the album. I will be using this grant money to ensure that my album will be as authentic and high quality as possible, and that I am able to perform my music to live audiences to further my exploration of this genre.

Faculty Mentor: Michael Rasbury
Department: Drama