OPUS Tradition Continues to Celebrate Student Scholarship

It may have been snowing outside last Tuesday, but the tradition of OPUS continued! While some aspects looked a little different, due to maintaining safety protocols, the day was a celebration of scholarship, music, art, and more. This year also marked the 1st Annual  GRUMPUS–a fantastic extension of OPUS that includes graduate research projects hosted through a partnership with the OPUS committee and Graduate Faculty.

Winners of this year’s OPUS competitions include:

OPUS 2021 Music Competition

Vocal solo

1st Place
Olivia De Jong: “Now Robed in Cool Refreshing Green,” from The Creation, by F. J. Haydn

2nd Place (tie)
Javonta Howard: “Summertime,” from Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin
Ryan Van Gilst: “With You,” from Pippin, by Stephen Schwartz

Instrumental solo

1st Place
Ranita Luhur, piano: Winter Rhapsody, by Dennis Alexander

2nd Place
Nathan Hiltner, trumpet: An Autumn Day, by Herbert L. Clarke

3rd Place
Jack Waanders, piano: Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397, by W. A. Mozart

Original composition

1st Place
Nathan Hiltner: Onwards, for concert band

2nd Place
Angie Castro: “To Pray,” for soprano and piano

3rd Place
Madison Mills: Spring 2021, for viola, cello, and piano

OPUS 2021 Art Show

Best in Show
Gabrielle Lenting: Decomposing City

Drawing, Painting, and Mixed Media

1st Place
Maggie Pate: Floral Portrait

2nd Place
Melanie Van Til: Saysha

3rd Place
Anne James: Self-Critical

Graphic Design & Digital Design

1st Place
Ryan Van Gilst: Rural Flight

2nd Place
Reanne Fopma: Family Through Fonts

3rd Place
Reanne Fopma: New Lens

Printmaking & Photography

1st Place
Yuri Coleman: Before and After Virus

2nd Place
Gabrielle Lenting: Cyanotype

3rd Place
Julia Belcher: Untitled 3 (Native Frogsake!?)

Sculpture and 3D

1st Place
Anne James: Songbird Syndrome

2nd Place
Anne James: What Defines Woman

3rd Place
Anne James: Within Without

2021 Presentation Competition Winners

1st Place
Rachel Babiak. “Archival Study of Psalms, Hymns, & Other Theological Texts Attached to Dutch Bibles in the 18th & 19th Centuries.”

2nd Place
Alexis Langellier. “Poetry & Mathematics.”

3rd Place (tie)
Melanie VanTil. “Creating Graphic Novels: Script-writing & Illustration.”
Karen Jegadish, Alexis Langellier, and Aidan Monner. “Speedy Series for Lethargic Logarithms.”