The AVS congratulations our most recent Dalton Research Competition winners, along with all the entrants who have made valued contributions to viola scholarship since the inception of the competition. Winning authors are honored by the competition by having their winning articles published in the Journal of the American Viola Society.
Please seek out and enjoy the worthy contributions listed below!
The American Viola Society proudly announces winners of the 2024 David Dalton Viola Research Competition:
First Prize: Namgon Lee, “Arranging BWV 997 for Unaccompanied Viola.”
Baroque violist Dr. Namgon Lee is an active performer and arranger specializing in historical performance. His research focuses on expanding early viola literature by integrating the performing-composer aspect of historical practice, with particular inspiration drawn from 17th-century German polyphonic violin playing and 16th-century Italian bastarda practice.
Namgon’s notable arrangements include J.S. Bach’s Lute Suite in C minor (BWV 997) and Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater dolorosa” for unaccompanied viola. He has also composed Three Different Styles of Diminution based on “Morir non può mio core” by Maddalena Casulana for viola and basso continuo and a Theme and Variation based on the Persian Lullaby for unaccompanied viola.
In 2019, Namgon was featured as a soloist performing his arrangement of Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in B minor (RV 424) with the Baltimore Baroque Band. He was also selected as an emerging artist to give a recital at the 2024 American Viola Society Festival.
Dr. Lee served as the principal violist of the Baltimore Baroque Band from 2017 to 2019 and the McGill Baroque Orchestra from 2019 to 2023. He has worked with several renowned period orchestras, including Ensemble Caprice, Les Boréades, Arion Baroque Orchestra, Tempesta di Mare, and Bach Solisten Seoul.
As a performing scholar, Dr. Lee has been a guest lecturer at the 48th International Viola Congress, the 22nd International Conference of Association Répertoire International d’Iconographie Musicale, and the 9th Annual Conference in Historical Performance at Indiana University Bloomington.
A dedicated chamber musician, Namgon was a founding member of the Ximenez Quartet (2019-2022), recognized as one of the 2022 Early Music America Emerging Artists and featured as an opening concert artist at the 2022 Montreal Baroque Festival. Despite his focus on 16th to 18th-century music, he has a longstanding devotion to medieval music. Since 2022, he has been a founding member of Ensemble Ursa Major, which was invited to perform a closing concert at the 2023 Journées Médiévales by Les Reverdies Montréal and received an honorary mention for the 2024 Early Music America Emerging Artists.
Namgon holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, a Master’s degree from the Peabody Institute, and a Doctor of Musical Performance from McGill University. He studied with Karen Dreyfus, Robert Rinehart, Risa Browder, Olivier Brault, and Dorian Bandy. When Namgon is away from the work desk, he is a passionate home cook and an enthusiastic fiddler.
Second Prize and Harmony Prize: Nicole Herrera, “”Blas Emilio Atehoruta: Romanza from Five Romantic Pieces for Viola and Piano.”
Nicole Herrera began her musical journey at the age of 11 in Cartagena, Colombia, at the Comfenalco School of Music, studying both viola and violin under the guidance of Romanian instructor Izabel Mandache. She later pursued a bachelor’s degree in music performance at Bellas Artes University, studying with Diana Gutierrez. During this time, she actively participated in several prominent music festivals across Brazil, Ecuador, and Colombia, including FEMUSC and the Guaranda International Music Festival. Her research dissertation, titled “Yoga for Violists: A Proposal of Exercises and Postures Based on the Discipline of Yoga to Improve Performance and Prevent Musculoskeletal Injuries in Violists,” received meritorious recognition and was published in the academic journal Presencias, Saberes y Expresiones.
Nicole received a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in viola performance at the University of Southern Mississippi. She studied with Dr. Hsiaopei Lee and earned also a minor in Music Education. She continued her participation in international music festivals, including the Vienna Summer Music Festival in Austria, and contributed as a performer and speaker at the 2024 American Viola Society Festival.
Nicole recently graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi. She currently performs with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and teaches in their district school program. She also serves as a violin instructor for the USM Suzuki program. Nicole plays a viola generously loaned by the AVS viola bank.
First Prize: Gabriel Forero, “Mystery Sonatas by H.I.F. Biber”
– published in JAVS, vol. 39, no. 2, Fall 2023
Second Prize: Xue Ding, “Charles Loeffler’s Two Songs”
– published in JAVS, vol. 40, no. 2, Fall 2024
Third Prize: Catherine Ziegler, “The Cade Instrument Collection”
– published in JAVS, vol. 39, no. 2, Fall 2023
First Prize: Sachin Shukla, “To Christabel: Exploring the Origins of William Walton’s Viola Concerto”
– published in JAVS, vol. 38, no. 2, Fall 2022
First Prize: Angela Kratschmer, “The Widmann Viola Concerto: Harold in Italy for the Postmodern Age”
– published in JAVS, vol. 37, no. 1, Spring 2021
Second Prize: Christopher Jenkins , “African-American Violists: A Retrospective”
– published in JAVS, vol. 36, no. 2, Fall 2020
Third Prize: Kasey Calebaugh, “Color in Music: An Analysis of Joan Tower’s Purple Works for Viola”
– published in JAVS, vol. 37, no. 1, Spring 2021
Honorable Mention: Chelsea Wimmer, “Heinrich Biber, Harmonia Artificiosa-Ariosa, Partia VII: An Edition for Modern Violas with Critical Commentary”
– published in JAVS, vol. 37, no. 2, Summer 2021
First Prize: Alice Sprinkle, “Bach Slurs, Abandoned by the Editors”
– published in JAVS, vol. 36, no. 1, Spring 2020
First Prize: Lanson Wells, “The Viola d’amore in Baroque Opera, Oratorio, and Cantata”
– published in JAVS, vol. 35, no. 2, Fall 2019
Second Prize: Joshua Dieringer, “A New Perspective on Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante”
– published in JAVS, vol. 35, no. 2, Fall 2019
First Prize: Alexander Trygstad, “Ritornello Form and the Dynamics of Performance in Telemann’s Viola Concerto in G Major”
– published in JAVS, vol. 31, no. 2, Fall 2015
First Prize: Alicia Marie Valoti, “Bartolomeo Campagnoli and His 41 Capricci: The Ever-Changing Role of the Virtuosic Viola and Its Technique”
– published in JAVS, vol. 32, no. 1, Spring 2016
First Prize: Julie Michael, “Zen in the Art of Viola Playing: Takemitsu’s A Bird Came Down the Walk”
– published in JAVS, vol. 30, no. 1, Spring 2014
First Prize: Joyce Y. Chan, “Forward Motion: Teaching Phrasing using Marcel Tabuteau’s Number System”
– published in JAVS, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring 2013
Second Prize: Amanda Wilton, “The Viola in Berlioz’s Harold in Italy”
– published in JAVS, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring 2013
First Prize: Jennifer Reed Mueller, “Finding Emotion in Bartók’s Viola Concerto”
– published in JAVS, vol. 25, no. 2, Fall 2009
First Prize: Andrew Filmer, “Power-Plays in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante: A Question of Philosophies on the Genre”
– published in JAVS, vol. 24, no. 2, Fall 2008
First Prize: Christina Placilla, “The Englishman and His Mistress: A Study of Arnold Bax’s Concert Piece for Viola and Piano”
– published in JAVS, vol. 23, no. 1, Spring 2007
First Prize: Linda Shaver-Gleason, “Ritter’s Viola Alta: The Viola’s Nineteenth Century Identity Crisis”
– published in JAVS, vol. 21, no. 2, Fall 2005
First Prize: Jeffrey Levenberg, “Introducing Zelter’s Viola Concerto”
– published in JAVS, vol. 19, no. 2, Fall 2003
First Prize: Edward M. Klorman, “From Theory to Performance in Schubert’s ‘Arpeggione’ Sonata”
– published in JAVS, vol. 18, no. 1, 2002
First Prize: Charletta Taylor, “The Real Thing: A Study of the Walton Viola Concerto”
– published in JAVS, vol. 17, no. 1, 2001
Second Prize: Christina Placilla, “The Romanian Nationalist Influences on the Viola Works of Stan Golestan and George Enescu”
– published in JAVS, vol. 17, no. 1, 2001