2025 Musician of the Year Award

A native of Miami, Florida, Anthony (Tony) Offerle is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and past NATS Governor for the State of Florida. He also is a member of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).

As an Associate Professor at the University of Florida - School of Music, he teaches studio voice, directs the opera theatre program, and is the musical director/conductor for the musical theatre productions. During the summer months, he is on the artistic staff of the prestigious Operafestival di Roma in Italy and served as their artistic director from 2012-2017. Dr. Offerle’s students are performing around the world have sung in many of the most revered opera houses including the San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, La Scala, and the Metropolitan Opera. His music theatre studio students have appeared on Broadway in Sunday in the Park with George, On Your Feet, Spider-man, and West Side Story.

Tony has stage directed, musical directed and produced over fifty performances in North Florida including The Phantom of the Opera, The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel, La Bohème, and West Side Story, many of which appeared on the stage at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Through the UF Opera Outreach program he established in 2004, more than 12.000 K-12 students have had the opportunity to experience live performances of great music. He has been blessed to count as his mentors, collaborators, and friends two of UF’s most acclaimed faculty, Dr. Elizabeth Graham, from the School of Music, and Professor Tony Mata, director of musical theatre in the School of Theatre and Dance.

An active concert performer, Offerle served as guest baritone soloist in London’s Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral as well as St. Giles Cathedral in Scotland. The Charleston Post and Courier said of his Messiah performance, "Mr. Offerle sang with a rich warm tone and an exciting top." The New York Amsterdam News said of his recital debut in Manhattan, "Offerle brought to his selections an exceptionally beautiful baritone, fine technical command and considerable interpretive skill. He proved to be a compelling singing-actor."

Offerle is a two-time Metropolitan Opera auditions district winner and regional finalist, a national winner of the Federation of Music Clubs vocal competition, and one of only ten Americans selected to compete in the quadrennial Marian Anderson International Vocal Competition. Dr. Offerle has studied with such renowned teachers as Italo Tajo and Andrew B. White at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

His solo performance credits include contracts with the OperaEstate in Rome, Festival of International Opera (Italy), Cincinnati Opera, Opera Montana, International Chamber Orchestra (Italy), Gulfshore Opera, First Coast Opera, Dayton Opera, Wyoming Opera, Charleston Symphony, Savannah Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. He has sung over 30 leading roles including title roles in Don Giovanni and Don Pasquale, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and Bartolo in both Il barbiere di Siviglia and Le nozze di Figaro. He is represented by Atwater/Reed Artists Management of New York. https://atwaterreed.com/artists-2/anthony-offerle-2

2025 Sarah Baird Fouse Woodwind Award Winners

1st Place: Adriel tan

Adriel Tan is a freshman at Gainesville High School. He started playing the clarinet during his time at Howard Bishop Middle School and is currently studying with Dale Fedele. He has been selected for the Alachua County Honor Band for the past three years along with the Florida All-State Middle School Band in 2024 and the Florida All-State Concert Band in 2025. Adriel has also received a number of superior ratings at the district and state levels of Solo and Ensemble. Additionally, he has obtained many honors for piano at the state and local levels. Last year, he was awarded first place in the FFMC State Junior Convention Piano Solo category and won the Betsy Schnell Piano Award for middle school.

2nd Place: Elizabeth blay

Elizabeth Blay is 15 years old. She has been studying piano for eleven years, first with Suzanne Carpenter and continuing with Wanda Louie. She has studied flute for seven years with Christine Alicot. Annie has earned superiors for piano at the FFMC Jr. Festival every year. She has participated three times for flute solo, earning superiors and winning the state competition each time. She has completed achievement for level 10 in FSMTA Student Day for piano. She participated in All-State for flute in 2024, and Alachua County Honor Band for three years, serving as principal flute twice. She has been a member of the Alachua County Youth Orchestra for two years, serving as principal flute this school year. She also plays flute for services at her church. Annie is in the Cambridge Program at Gainesville High School and is a member of the GHS swim team.

2025 Dorothy Reaves String Award Winners

1st Place: Pranay Gadikota

Pranay Gadikota is a junior at Buchholz High School and a violinist with nine years of experience. He has been selected for the Florida All-State Orchestra each year of high school, performed at Carnegie Hall, and received honors at the OPUS Music Competition. Pranay won third prize at the Charleston International Music Competition, earned multiple awards at the FFMC Music Convention, and was selected to perform at the FSMTNA State Concerto Competition.

2nd Place: Alexander Hsu

Alexander Hsu, a sophomore at Eastside High School, currently serves as the principal cellist of the Alachua County Youth Orchestra. Having been a part of the FMEA All-State Conference in 2022, 2023, and 2025 both as a performer and as a student leadership workshop attendee, Alexander founded a chapter of Tri-M Music Honors Society at his high school, the first string program in its history, and continues to be involved with musical opportunities in orchestra, chamber choir, and the nonprofit organization Joey's Wings.

2025 William Dishman Award Winners

1st Place: Madelyn Urbine

Madelyn Urbine is an 18 year old French horn player from Gainesville, Florida, attending Buchholz High School. She has been playing the french horn for seven years under the guidance of her teacher, Margaret Dixon. In her high school career, Madelyn has been selected for FMEA All-State ensembles four times, performing as the principal player for two years. As a sophomore and a junior, she was selected as a finalist in the US Navy Band's Young Artist Solo Competition, performing with the band twice in Washington D.C. Along with this, she was the 2024 winner of the First Coast Wind Symphony Concerto Competition and the first runner up for the Ocala Symphony Concerto Competition. Outside of music, Madelyn enjoys CrossFit and weightlifting.

2nd Place: Henry Sansing

Henry Sansing is a senior at F.W. Buchholz High School where he is principal of the Wind Symphony and lead in Jazz 1. He was selected to be a member of the 2025 FMEA All-State Symphonic Band, an Alachua County Honor Band member for 2 years, and is the principal of the Alachua County Youth Orchestra. In his free time, Henry enjoys being with friends, playing video games, and fishing. After high school he plans to continue to pursue trumpet and play professionally.

2025 Betsy Schnell Piano Award Winners

MIDDLE SCHOOL AWARD: Claudia Thomas

Claudia Thomas has played piano for six years and is a current student of Mika Fujita. In 2024, Claudia attended Interlachen Arts Academy for piano with a $1000 scholarship and won the Virginia Clayton Summer Camp award. She has won Gainesville’s Foundation for the Promotion of Music Sonata contest for the last three years in a row and recently achieved a superior for Festival for solo playing and collaborative piano for Franck’s Melancolie for cello. Claudia has played in trios and participated in a number of chamber music performances for piano and cello. Recently, Claudia was accepted to the University of Florida’s summer 2025 International Piano festival on scholarship. Claudia enjoys drawing and baking in her free time.

HIGH SCHOOL AWARD: Yaqi Song

Yaqi Song is a ninth grade student studying piano repertoire with Evan Mitchell. Some of her favorite composers include Amy Beach and Frederic Chopin. She especially enjoys lyrical pieces but also likes Scherzos. In addition to piano she enjoys dance and crafting.

Winners of the 2024 FPM Sonata/Sonatina Festival

Division I Winner: ZhenYuan Xue, student of Hee Jung Kang

Division II Winner: Odin Fisch, student of Natsuko Ejiri

Division III Winner: Eric Wang, student of Ruth Lewis

Division IV Winner: Austin Li, student of Wanda Louie

Division V Winner: Theodor Canev, student of Mika Fujita

Division VI Winner: Jonathan Zheng, student of Natsuko Ejiri

Division VII Winner: Ky Ngo, student of Hee Jung Kang

Division VIII Winner: Claudia Thomas, student of Mika Fujita

Division IX Winner: Brayden Yang, student of Mika Fujita

Division X Winner: Jennifer Wang, student of Mika Fujita