Winners of the Senior Division of the 2024 Sphinx Competition, from left: Bethlehem Kelley, Aaron Olguin, and Nathan Amaral.
The Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, dedicated to diversity and inclusion in classical music, has named the winners of the 27th Annual Sphinx Competition, which took place January 25-27, 2024. The national competition offers young Black and Latinx classical string players a chance to compete before a panel of expert judges and to perform with and receive mentorship from professional musicians. After performing the first movement of Coleridge-Taylor’s Concerto for Violin in G minor, op. 80, violinist Nathan Amaral of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was named the 2024 First Prize winner of the Senior Division Finals, receiving the $50,000 Robert Frederick Smith Prize and solo appearances with orchestras. Second place in the Senior Division and $20,000 were awarded to double bassist Aaron Olguin, while third place and $10,000 went to violinist Bethlehem Kelley. Olguin was also selected for the $5,000 Audience Choice Prize. Winners in the competition’s Junior Finals, who also received cash prizes, were violinist Ana Isabella España, violinist Rebecca Beato, and cellist Sonya Mooma. All Junior and Senior Division finalists performed with conductor Joseph Young and the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, an all-Black and Latinx orchestra comprising professionals from around the country.
