Monica Lopez-Gonzalez, a senior in the School
of Arts and Sciences, has been named the recipient of the
university's 2005 Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for her
piano performance of music by Cuban and Spanish composers
Ernesto Lecuona and Isaac Albeniz. She performed Lecuona's
"Suite Espagnol" and Albeniz's "El Albaicin" from the
Iberia suite.
"She did a wonderful job expressing the feeling of the
music, the passion," said Julie Morgan, chair of the Sudler
Prize committee. "It was amazing how quickly [the
committee] came to a consensus."
The $1,500 Sudler Prize is awarded annually to a
student, typically a graduating senior or fourth-year
medical student, who displays artistic talent but does not
plan to pursue a career in the arts. Lopez-Gonzalez was
selected out of 14 applicants.
Since she was 2, the Towson, Md., resident has been
studying classical music and taking lessons at the Peabody
Institute. As a student at Johns Hopkins, she began to
concentrate on Spanish composers to better understand her
native language through music.
She plans to use the grant to purchase South American
music for her duo, which performs Brazilian and Argentinian
music.
She is graduating with a double degree in
psychology and
French
literature. After graduation, she will pursue a
doctorate in psycholinguistics in the Johns Hopkins
Cognitive Science
Department.
Michelle JaJa Chang, a senior from Portsmouth,
Va., received honorable mention in the Sudler Prize
competition. Not since 1998 has the committee awarded an
honorable mention.
Chang submitted a book outlining her architectural
projects and a model of a swimming center she designed. She
also submitted material studies with plastic wrap, with
which she experimented by compressing and weaving it into
different textures and designs. Chang, who will earn her
bachelor's degree in international studies from
the Krieger School, plans to pursue a master's in
architecture at Harvard next year.
"The committee was really impressed with her
creativity and her dedication to pursuing this art," Morgan
said.
Katie Gradowski and Neena Marupudi, also
students in the Krieger School, have been named
co-recipients of the 2005 President's Commendation for
Achievement in the Arts, which is given to a graduating
senior or seniors whose achievements exemplify the arts and
service on the Homewood campus.
Gradowski submitted a DVD recording of a short video
about the presidential election, a slide show featuring her
art and photography, a film on socialist utopian
architecture and a link to J-Stream, a video-streaming Web
site (
jstream.jhu.edu) that she co-founded; her film about
socialist utopian architecture is viewable under the
"student work" link.
She also is involved with Witness Theater, a group
that produces plays written by Johns Hopkins students.
Gradowski, who will earn her bachelor's degree with
majors in English and the Writing Seminars, will have a summer
internship with National Public Radio in Washington, D.C.,
and then would like to spend a year in television or radio
journalism internships in New York before applying to
graduate programs in English literature. She is from
Parkton, Md.
Co-recipient Marupudi submitted a DVD recording of a
25-minute solo Indian classical dance performance as well
as dances she choreographed for JHU JOSH, an all-girl
fusion dance team. "The purpose of JOSH is to fuse
different cultural elements such as Western and Eastern
dance styles and music, with some portion of Indian music
and dance," said Marupudi, who is captain of the team.
Marupudi, who is from Amarillo, Texas, will earn a
bachelor's degree in
neuroscience and anthropology
in May and will also receive her master's degree in
neuroscience. She plans to go to medical school next year
at Penn State.
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