BYU Music Student Catherine Boyack Wins Top National Award for Flutists Under 30
When Catherine Boyack’s submitted flute recording landed her one of 15 spots in the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition in Orlando, Florida, she expected to play her best in the first round and get some experience under her belt. She did not expect to advance through the rounds, and she certainly did not expect to win the biggest award for young flutists in the United States.
Boyack, a senior majoring in music, first attended the Young Artist Competition, which features flutists under the age of 30, soon after graduating high school. Most of the competitors had completed their master’s or doctorate degrees or were already working as professional musicians, and Boyack did not advance past the first round. Four years later and working toward her undergraduate degree, she returned to give it another shot, fully anticipating to learn from the experience and return for a third time further down the road in her education and career.
“It’s been a goal of mine for a long, long time,” said Boyack. “I thought, in the next six or seven years, I want to get myself to a place where I could win. I didn’t think that I was already there, and I still don’t feel that I am in some ways. It’s overwhelming. I don’t know if it will really sink in, because advancing through the first round was something I didn’t expect. To have won is the very last scenario that went through my head.”READ MORE