{"id":888,"date":"2019-07-17T18:18:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/stephenpricefulbright\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:18:58","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:58","slug":"stephenpricefulbright","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/stephenpricefulbright\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Price Fulbright"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Some people say it\u2019s not what you know, but who you know. For Stephen Price \u201909, it came down to a bit of both. If he didn\u2019t know so much about playing the pipe organ, the Buffalo, N.Y., native might not have won numerous local competitions or been one of only 20 high school students nationwide invited to attend the Westminster Choir College of Rider University Organ Week in Princeton, N.J.<\/p>\n

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But it was who he met once he was at Organ Week that eventually led Price to WestConn.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was a sophomore in high school when I went to New Jersey for Organ Week,\u201d Price says. \u201cWhile I was there, I met another organ student from Pennsylvania. We became friends, and even after the week was over, we kept in touch. \u201cHe was a year older than me, so when he went to college, I was a senior in high school. He would tell me about his organ teacher, the playing techniques he was learning from him, and how much the teacher obviously cared about his students \u2014 and it sounded great.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The organ instructor in question was WestConn Adjunct Professor of Music Stephen Roberts. Price called Roberts to talk about WestConn\u2019s organ program, and before long the two met when the Organ Historical Society held a convention in \u2014 of all places \u2014 Buffalo.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSteve Roberts actually performed an organ recital at my church, so I got to meet him, hear him play and talk to him about the organ,\u201d Price said. \u201cThat pretty much made up my mind about where I wanted to go to college.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not that Price didn\u2019t have other options. The prestigious Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio had offered a $12,000 per semester scholarship. Price turned it down to come to WestConn.<\/p>\n

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Roberts is pleased Price made that choice.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStephen is a fine young man, and I believe that we are indeed fortunate to have had him at WCSU,\u201d Roberts says. \u201cHe won a number of prizes, scholarships and awards as a high school senior, and he was generally recognized to be an outstanding talent. Because of this high potential and outstanding high school record, he was recruited by a number of prestigious universities and conservatories. The fact that he chose WestConn over these better-known schools shows that our reputation is increasing, and that we compare very well to other universities.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Price says he based his decision on a number of factors. \u201cThe smaller music department allows more time for individual attention and enables the trips that the organ program takes to Europe each year,\u201d he says. \u201cI also knew I would have a better chance at getting a job as a church organist in Fairfield County, while at Oberlin the odds would not have been as good.\u201d While at WestConn, Price was an organ scholar at St. Paul’s on the Green Episcopal Church in Norwalk, Conn.<\/p>\n

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The 21-year-old says he wants to become a professional organist and would also like to teach music on the collegiate level one day. He participated in some memorable learning experiences while at WestConn that will help him along that path. \u201cI went on all four organ program trips to Europe,\u201d he says. \u201cThe trips are done in a four-year cycle: Austria, central Germany, France and Holland\/northern Germany. We studied the music of composers related to the countries before we went. Once there, we had classes with world experts on the music and the organs. My favorite trip was the France trip because I enjoy French organ music the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a good thing Price prefers French organ music, because come September he\u2019ll be studying there. This spring, as the Dean\u2019s List student prepared to graduate with a Bachelor of Music, Price received word he had won a very coveted award: a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Conservatoire National de R\u00e9gion in Toulouse, France. After that, he will relocate to Bloomington, Ind., to enroll in the Masters in Organ Performance program at Indiana University.<\/p>\n

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Price\u2019s instructor, Roberts, had a Fulbright to study in Vienna when he was an organ student 35 years ago. \u201cThe truth is, since I had a Fulbright myself, I know what kinds of doors this can open for a student,\u201d Roberts says. \u201cStephen has worked really hard and deserves this award. It\u2019s recognition of his hard work and commands immediate respect in the academic world. To study in another country, in a completely different environment, is invaluable,\u201d Roberts continues. \u201cHe\u2019ll make friends and contacts that will continue through his whole life. I\u2019m glad Stephen will have the same opportunity I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In the end, Price believes it comes down to a combination of what you know AND who you know. \u201cAt WestConn, you can put yourself out there, and let the professors and staff get to know you. I had invaluable help with my Fulbright application from my organ instructor, Steve Roberts; and Professor of Anthropology Dr. Robert Whittemore and Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Chris Kukk, both of whom have also won Fulbright Awards. WCSU is a small school, but it affords its students the same opportunities as at other institutions. Here, you can determine your own path.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.
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DANBURY, CONN. \u2014 Some people say it\u2019s not what you know, but who you know. For Stephen Price \u201909, it came down to a bit of both. If he didn\u2019t know so much about playing the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-888","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}