UC Composition Student Wins International Schwarzman Scholarship

Throughout her four years as a University of Cincinnati student,

Rachel Walker

has split her time between the U.S. and China to study music. She hopes to create an arts organization that serves as a bridge between the two countries and now, as a newly named

Schwarzman Scholar

, her goal is nearly in sight.

Walker, who graduates from the UC College-Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s of music in composition in December, will join students from 30 countries and 75 universities as a member of the second class of Schwarzman Scholars. The new international program is designed to shape future leaders by giving students a better understanding of the changing geopolitical landscape. It funds travel costs, a stipend and one-year tuition for a master’s program at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

This won’t be Walker’s first trip to Beijing. As a sophomore at CCM, Walker began teaching herself Mandarin and was encouraged by Professor Emeritus

Joel Hoffman

to spend a year studying traditional music at the China Conservatory.

“This experience, in addition to trips to Taiwan and Beijing on grants from the UC Research Council and

CCMpower

[a volunteer fundraising organization] respectively, have made an unspeakable impact on me as a person and an artist,” Walker says. “I have been researching Chinese instruments and collaborating extensively in Beijing, but have felt an increasing need to broaden my understanding of China past the traditional music world alone.”

She worked with UC’s office of Nationally Competitive Awards and the Office of the Provost to prepare her application for the Schwarzman Scholarship. Three hundred semifinalists were invited for in-person interviews before international panels composed of CEOs, former heads of state, university presidents, non-profit executives and other global leaders narrowed the selection to the 129 Schwarzman Scholars.

Walker was chosen after a rigorous selection process that evaluated leadership skills, academic ability and strength of character. As a Schwarzman Scholar, she will pursue a MA in Management of Global Affairs with a concentration in Public Policy. She wants to expand her network and leadership skills by learning more about how businesses and arts organizations run in China.

“The prestige of this award demonstrates to the world that the UC experience gives students the tools they need to compete with the best in the world,” says UC Vice Provost for International Affairs and Director of the Honors Program, Raj Mehta. “We are proud that Rachel’s success and her future work will continue to build upon the global reach and reputation of our university.”

After the scholarship she plans to start a new organization that creates more dialogue between the new music and folk music worlds in China and the U.S. She has experience in creating and running an arts organization. In 2015, she and another CCM composition student, Ivan Alexander Moscotta, founded Cincinnati Soundbox — a chamber music series aimed at diversifying the Queen City’s music scene with works from local and national composers.

Walker will continue her musical research while in Beijing and hopes to write more compositions that utilize Chinese instruments. Her composition

I touched the ground while floating away

uses the pipa, a pear-shaped instrument sometimes called the Chinese lute, and the yangqin, a Chinese hammered dulcimer. The piece is available for streaming on

Sound Cloud

; more of Walker’s work is featured on her website,

www.rachelcwalker.com

.

“I’m humbled by this opportunity and am excited to return to Beijing,” Walker says of her acceptance into the Schwarzman Scholars program. “As I graduate next week, it’s been a nice surprise as I close out my time at CCM.”

About Schwarzman Scholars

Schwarzman Scholars was inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship, which was founded in 1902 to promote international understanding and peace, and is designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century and beyond. Blackstone Co-Founder Stephen A. Schwarzman personally contributed $100 million to the program and is leading a fundraising campaign to raise an additional $350 million from private sources to endow the program in perpetuity. The $450 million endowment will support up to 200 scholars annually from the U.S., China, and around the world for a one-year Master’s Degree program at Tsinghua University in Beijing, one of China’s most prestigious universities and an indispensable base for the country’s scientific and technological research. Scholars chosen for this highly selective program will live in Beijing for a year of study and cultural immersion, attending lectures, traveling, and developing a better understanding of China. Admissions opened in the fall of 2015, with the first class of students in residence in 2016. Learn more at 

www.schwarzmanscholars.org

.