State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher today announced that Stony Brook University student Mario Gotoh has earned the Patricia Kerr Ross Award, which recognizes exemplary student achievement in the arts.
“The Patricia K. Ross Award allows SUNY to honor some of our most creative arts students and provide them with financial assistance to support their ongoing work,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “Congratulations to Mario Gotoh for winning such a prestigious and competitive award.”
Each year, the $1,000 Patricia Kerr Ross Award recognizes students who have demonstrated excellence, originality and promise in the arts. It is intended as a bridge between SUNY study in the arts and entry into a professional career in the arts.
Gotoh received a dual degree in doctor of musical arts and violin and viola performance from Stony Brook University in May 2012. She was nominated for the award by Nicholas Cords, viola artist-in-residence at SBU, and Philip Setzer, professor of violin and chamber music at the University and a founding member of the Emerson String Quartet.
“It is very unusual to work with a student who does many different things in music and does all of them equally and very well,” said Setzer. “Mario Gotoh is just such a musician. She is an excellent violinist and violist, strong and exciting soloist, intelligent and sensitive chamber musician and an excellent teacher and citizen of the University. She is most deserving of this prestigious award.”
About the Patricia Kerr Ross Award
Patricia Kerr Ross dedicated 30 years of service to SUNY, where she began in 1969 as assistant to the University dean in the University-wide program in the arts. Ross directed the University-wide programs in the arts from 1971 to 1991, and was also a board and committee member, panelist and speaker for a variety of arts-related organizations in New York State. She was a founding board member of the Gallery Association of New York State in 1973 and the Association of SUNY Arts Presenters in 1982. Following her death in 1999, Ross’ $30,000 bequest created the Patricia Kerr Ross Award to benefit graduates in the arts by enhancing the outreach of the Thayer Fellowship program.
Nearly 100 applications for the awards are received each year. The applications are evaluated by a jury panel of experts in the various arts disciplines. The finalists are then interviewed in person by the jury panel, and their work is reviewed during performances, readings, screenings and exhibitions. At the end of this process, the jury panel determines the winners.
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