Freshman music major Hattie Bestul was the division winner in the Music Teacher National Association Senior Performance Woodwind Competition in Lawrence, Kan., on Jan. 12.
Bestul will travel to Anaheim, Calif., in March to compete as a national finalist in the MTNA Senior Performance Competition. The national winner of this competition receives a cash prize and will perform in a "winners concert." Bestul will compete against six other division-level winners.
“Hattie is a marvelous student and valued member of our School of Music and its clarinet studio,” said Hixson-Lied Professor of Clarinet Diane Barger. “She has a natural gift for music and continually aspires to reach a higher level of artistry in her clarinet playing.”
A native of Middleton, Wis., Bestul participated in the Winds of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin State Honors Project ensembles. In spring 2012, she won the WYSO Concerto Competition. She currently is principal clarinetist in the UNL Wind Ensemble.
“The MTNA competition has been a great opportunity and challenge for me as a musician,” Bestul said. “I’m very thankful for Dr. Barger’s guidance in choosing and helping me to prepare repertoire that I really enjoy.”
Her repertoire for the competition includes all movements of the Saint-Saens Clarinet Sonata in E flat major, Op. 167; "Fantaisie Italliene" for Clarinet by Eugene Bozza; and movement one of Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 5 by Bernhard Crusell.
Bestul also won the state MTNA competition in October.
“Winning these first two rounds of competition is such an accomplishment for a freshman, and it has provided Hattie with valuable musical experience that she will carry with her throughout her career and as she prepares for the national level of competition,” Barger said.
MTNA is a nonprofit organization of 22,000 independent and collegiate music teachers committed to advancing the value of music study and music making to society and to supporting the professionalism of music teachers. Founded in 1876, MTNA is the oldest professional music association in the U.S.