Contact: Paige Watson

STARKVILLE, Miss. — A distinguished faculty member and student in Mississippi State’s Department of Music are the recipients of major awards for their respective performances in national and statewide competitions.

Rosângela Yazbec Sebba, the music department’s professor of piano, theory and ear training, has been awarded special citation at The American Prize Piano Solo competition for her performance “Championing the Music of Camargo Guarnieri.”

Administered by Danbury, Connecticut-based nonprofit Hat City Music Theater Inc., The American Prize is a series of nonprofit national competitions in the performing arts. Each year, it provides cash awards, professional adjudication, and regional, national and international recognition for the best recorded performances by U.S. ensembles and individuals at the professional, college/university, church, community and secondary school levels. For more, visit http://theamericanprize.org.

Combining an active concert and teaching schedule, Sebba is noted for her lecture-recitals and research in Brazilian music, specifically the music of Brazilian composer M. Camargo Guarnieri. Her CD album, “Eight Sonatinas and the Sonata for Piano Solo by M. Camargo Guarnieri,” is the first compilation of the eight Sonatinas and the one Sonata for piano solo by Guarnieri.

Sebba also is among the select ranks of some 1,600 highly esteemed musicians from around the world who have chosen to play exclusively on pianos produced by internationally renowned piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons, thereby earning the prestigious Steinway Artist designation.

Additionally, one of Sebba’s students has received notoriety for his musical stylings.

Senior music major Jeonai Do Nascimento Batista of Brazil won second place in the Mississippi Music Teachers Association State College Piano Solo Competition Young Artist Category. Within his major, Batista is pursuing concentrations in piano and voice.

Learn more about the MSU College of Education’s nationally accredited Department of Music at www.music.msstate.edu or Facebook and Twitter @msstatemusic.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.