Kellan Toohey was the winner of the 2015 Ekstrand Competition.
Persistence has paid off for Kellan Toohey. The clarinet doctoral student can now claim the title of听Bruce Ekstrand Memorial Graduate Student Performance Competition听winner鈥攁long with $2,000 in professional development funds.
This was Toohey鈥檚 fourth time entering the competition. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of disorienting to win, but it feels great.鈥�
The Ekstrand Competition is the premier performance competition for graduate students at the College of Music. The chance to perform for a panel of judges in a high-stakes situation is one听relish. 鈥淭his kind of funding is very hard to come by,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great opportunity for us.鈥�
This year鈥檚 other finalists included the Rano Winds graduate wind quintet (Kaleb Chesnic, flute; Emily June, oboe; Jacob Eichhorn, clarinet; Kelsey Bentley, horn and Daniel Nester, bassoon), tenor Michael Hoffman, guitarist Paulo Oliveira and percussionist Charles Lovell. Toohey won first prize; Lovell received $1,000 for second place, and the other finalists each received $500. Toohey received another $500 for being voted audience favorite.
He says the differentiator this year was his repertoire. 鈥淚 was more prepared this time and knew what to expect,鈥� he says. With collaborative piano faculty听Hsiao-Ling Lin, Toohey performed听鈥淔antasie鈥� by Jorg Widmann, 鈥淔antasia鈥� from 鈥淔antasia and Allegro鈥� by Carl Maria von Weber and the third movement of Francis Poulenc鈥檚 Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.听Each piece was chosen carefully. 鈥淚 chose the first piece because it鈥檚 one of the hardest I鈥檝e ever learned, and shows off the clarinet. The second is an extreme contrast 鈥� a romantic and beautiful piece. The third is from a different听time period, so it has a different feel and is really fun to play and listen to,鈥� he explains.
Toohey, a Boulder native, has attended recitals at the College of Music since middle school, and watched the Ekstrand Competition finals as an undergrad. 鈥淚 was always amazed and inspired by the musicians. I never thought I would be back here competing as a doctoral student, much less that I would win!鈥� After earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree at CU, Toohey attended the University of Northern Colorado for a master鈥檚 degree.
He is still ironing out plans for his prize money, but has his eye on either international competitions, music festivals or funding his first CD. 鈥淚 just commissioned music for it from a couple of CU alumni and other composers,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want to cover a range of styles, from Neo-Baroque to modern.鈥� Toohey hopes to release the CD in the spring.
Regardless, Toohey says competing in the Ekstrand competition has been one of his best experiences at the College of Music. 鈥淓veryone has been so supportive. I can鈥檛 thank them enough 鈥� my teacher Dan Silver, my family, my friends, my church and the other musicians competing.
鈥淓ven in the years that I didn鈥檛 win, I still had fun and learned something. Having something like this on my r茅sum茅 will be really helpful when applying for future jobs and competitions,鈥� he adds. Toohey says after receiving his DMA, he wants teach, in addition to continuing to perform and compose music.
