Alyssa Kereki of Arnold Named University of Evansville's Most Outstanding Senior Music Major

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In Wheeler Concert Hall after the Gumberts Award recital: Thomas Josenhans, chair of UE’s Department of Music; Alyssa Kereki; and Shauna Thompson, UE consortium instructor of flute.

EVANSVILLE, IN (04/27/2012)(readMedia)-- Alyssa Kereki, a native of Arnold, Missouri, has been named the winner of the 35th annual Gumberts Award competition in the University of Evansville's Department of Music.

Kereki was one of three senior music majors selected by department faculty to perform at the Gumberts Award recital, which took place Tuesday, April 24 in UE's Wheeler Concert Hall. At the conclusion of the recital, a panel of three local judges deemed Kereki's performance the most outstanding.

Kereki, a graduate of Seckman Senior High School, has been playing the flute for 13 years. She began her studies at UE as a cognitive science major with a music minor, hoping to study the effects of music on the brain. Her sophomore year, she discovered music therapy, which provided the perfect combination of both.

She has held the principal chair in both the UE Wind Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra and has performed as a substitute flutist with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Her teachers have included Aurelia Hartenberger, Kelly Sulick, and Shauna Thompson.

Kereki is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars; the national music honor society, Pi Kappa Lambda; the national academic honor society, Phi Kappa Phi; the UE Music Therapy Association; and the American Music Therapy Association. She spent the past summer volunteering at Good Samaritan Nursing Home leading music sessions for patients with Alzheimer's disease and currently volunteers at Evansville Psychiatric Children's Center. She has also worked as a resident assistant for the past three years and has taught music for Sunday school at St. John's United Church of Christ.

This fall, Kereki will intern at Bethany Children's Home in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, to complete her degree in music therapy.