SUNY Potsdam Alumni Name Zachariah C. Galatis '08 a 'Rising Star'

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From left, SUNY Potsdam President Kristin Esterberg, Rising Star Award recipient Zachariah C. Galatis ’08 and Alumni Association President Jeffrey Washburn.

POTSDAM, NY (07/23/2014)(readMedia)-- The SUNY Potsdam Alumni Association recently honored Zachariah C. Galatis '08, with the 2014 Rising Star Award, at the College's annual Reunion Weekend.

The Rising Star Award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated outstanding professional achievement in the first decade following graduation. Galatis was recognized for his outstanding professional achievements, early in his musical career.

Over the past five years, Zachariah Galatis has firmly established himself as a rising star, in his immediate circle as a flutist and piccoloist, and also in the field of orchestral music. In 2011, he won his first full-time orchestral position, as piccolo/third flute with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. The next year, Galatis was appointed the piccolo/third flute for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. He has played with numerous orchestras around the country, including the Baltimore Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony.

A native of LaGrange, N.Y., Galatis graduated summa cum laude with performance honors from SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music in 2008, where he studied with Dr. Kenneth Andrews. He was also a member of a number of performance groups as a student, including the Crane Wind Ensemble, the Crane Symphony Orchestra, the Crane Opera Ensemble, the Crane Opera Orchestra, the Musical Theatre Organization, Northern Symphonic Winds and the Orchestra of Northern New York.

Galatis received his Master of Music Degree from the Peabody Conservatory, studying with the Baltimore Symphony's solo piccolo, Laurie Sokoloff, and the principal flute, Emily Skala. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the Peabody Conservatory, studying under the renowned flute soloist, Marina Piccinini.

Galatis won first place in the Mid-Atlantic Young Artist Piccolo Competition in 2009, and was a winner of the National Flute Association's 2009 Piccolo Masterclass Competition. He has been a member of the National Orchestral Institute. In the summer of 2012, he was awarded the Piccolo Fellowship at the Aspen Music Festival, studying with Nadine Asin. He also distinguished himself as the leader in his field as the first prize winner for the National Flute Association's 2012 Piccolo Artist Competition.

In addition to his performance artistry, Galatis is an accomplished teacher. He led masterclasses at the 2012 Hampton Roads Flute Faire, as a member of the Virginia Symphony flute section, and was the Guest Piccolo Artist at the 2012 International Flute Symposium in West Virginia. In 2013, Galatis was a guest artist at the Iowa Piccolo Intensive Workshop.

For more information about SUNY Potsdam's Alumni Association, visit www.potsdam.edu/alumni.

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts. Empowered by a culture of creativity, the campus community recently launched Take the Lead: The Campaign for Potsdam, which aims to raise $27 million by the College's bicentennial in 2016.

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