Bravo, Baron

During his four years of study at Westminster Choir College, Anthony Baron of White Lake, Mich., a senior Piano and Voice Performance major, has had the opportunity to study with some of the greatest musical minds of the country, perform as part of the Westminster Symphonic Choir in professional performances of such pieces as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Carnegie Hall, serve as the assistant musical director of a Westminster Music Theatre's production of “The Glorious One”, as well as have a major role in a production with Westminster Opera Theatre performing Arkel in “Pelleas et Melisande”.
 
Baron, who will walk during Westminster’s Commencement ceremony on May 14, said those experiences have prepared him for life beyond college and inspired him to continue studying music at the graduate level in order to pursue his goals of one day being a performer and professor of music. He will begin his graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in the fall.

As an undergraduate student, Baron has excelled as a scholar, musician and leader. For three consecutive years, Baron earned first prize scholarships in the Piano Scholarship Competition, and in 2010, he placed second in the competition for Voice Scholarship. He also received the Westminster Choir College Composition Award in 2008, and each year from 2007 to 2011, earned the Westminster Choir College John Finley Williamson Award awarded to an incoming student for an outstanding audition.  

He has been selected to the Dean’s List on six occasions, been named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, and has received Rider’s Undergraduate Research Scholar Award (URSA). As a 2009-2010 URSA recipient, Baron conducted research to show how Chopin incorporated elements of the Bellini Bel Canto Operatic style in his Piano Nocturne writing. This year, Baron served as President of the Westminster Choir College Student Government Association.
 
Recently, Baron received the prestigious 2011 President’s Award during the Westminster Convocation ceremony. Baron was recognized again for his achievements during the University’s Awards Banquet on April 30 on the Lawrenceville campus. Baron said he was incredibly humbled to receive the honor.
 
“During my four years at Westminster Choir College it was my hope to not only grow as a person but help the community grow as well,” he said. “To be selected from what I am sure was a remarkable group of some of Westminster Choir College’s best and brightest musicians is an honor I will remember my entire life.  As I leave Westminster Choir College, I will strive to continue developing my own personal and professional goals but always remember that to make my community the strongest and most vibrant place it can be.”