04-08-2025
Free summer scholarship academy at University of Colorado Boulder aims to make classical music more accessible
In the middle of summer, a college campus can be pretty quiet, but at the University of Colorado Boulder the halls of the College of Music are anything but.
Every summer for more than 20 years, young musicians from all over audition for a chance to come to stay in Boulder and train with the Sphinx Performance Academy.
The students are some of the best players in the country, including 12-year-old Petra Nkoyoyo.
"When I got accepted, I was so excited and like, I would talk nonstop about coming to the camp," Nkoyoyo said.
The academy is completely free and provides two weeks of private lessons, mentorship and masterclasses in an effort to make classical music more accessible for young students of color.
"At my orchestra, I'm like, pretty much one like me and my brothers just pretty much the only kids, like, there's one other girl that look like us. So it's really nice to have, yeah, just other people who look like us and who want to pursue music and achieve the same goals," Nkoyoyo said.
CU Boulder Violin Professor Alex Gonzalez has seen the program's success firsthand.
"They've helped with career development ... giving me many, many concert opportunities, as well as helping with other practical things, like helping me purchase the violin I play on today," Gonzalez said.
And after going through the program himself he now gets to help these future musicians.
"The sense of community that's built when the students are studying with peers that have similar backgrounds, similar experiences, it really brings you back down to the core of why you're doing what you're doing," Gonzalez said.
Recitals wrapped up for the summer this weekend as students gave a masterclass of their own by showing what's possible with symphony of support.
