ADRIAN GNAM, Director 580 N. Rivoli Farms Dr.

Macon, GA 31210 770-845-3615

For Immediate Release July 11, 2017

Maestro Adrian Gnam, Director and Dr. Gregory Pritchard, Associate Director of the International Conductors
Workshop and Competition today announced the winners of the eighth summer ICWC held July 7 to 9, 2017.
Eight conductors from Canada, Thailand, Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Texas conducted the professional
ICWC Orchestra on a culminating free concert on Sunday, July 9th at North Atlanta High School in works by
Barber, Beethoven, Mozart, van Suppe, and Verdi. The conductors participated in five rehearsals, a master
class and the concert during the three-day workshop which has become one of the most well-known and highly
regarded conductor training programs in the nation.

Maestro Gnam said, "I was really excited about this group of conductors. They had already shown great
potential as conductors from the videos they submitted and from their accomplishments with orchestras around
the world. This concert was absolutely wonderful and it showed the progress the conductors made in such a
short time." The three winners of the July 2017 International Conductors Workshop and Competition which was
sponsored by the Gwinnett Symphony Chamber Orchestra and Mercer University's Townsend School of Music,
are: Charles Patterson, Janet Hoover and Shawn Bennett.

First place winner is Charles Patterson who recently graduated from Georgia Southern University with a
Bachelor's Degree in Music Education. While at Georgia Southern University, he studied French Horn with Dr.
Stephanie Furry Mason and orchestral conducting with Maestro Adrian Gnam. He previously study horn with
Jay Hanselman at Mercer University. Charles is currently the Conductor of the Effingham Community Orchestra
in Rincon, GA and will be the Orchestra Director at Eagle's Landing Middle School in McDonough, GA starting in
Fall 2017. The other two winners are:

Shawn Bennett is a multifaceted young conductor of orchestra, choir, and band, hailing from Newfoundland &
Labrador, Canada. He holds degrees in Music Performance (Trombone) as well as Music Education from
Memorial University of Newfoundland, and has been an active member of the local music community since
2010. Bennett currently teaches band, choir, and guitar programs in the Newfoundland and Labrador English
School District, and intends to pursue graduate studies in orchestral conducting in 2018.

Janet Hoover, at age 21, has been called A young and very promising talent and one to look out for! Before graduating
high school she had already been named assistant conductor of Arizona Pro Arte, a Phoenix-based chamber orchestra
highly regarded for its innovative programming. Born in Phoenix, Hoover began conducting studies with Keitaro Harada of
Arizona Opera, the Cincinnati Symphony and Cincinnati Pops. Hoover is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in music at
Arizona State University.

The conductors were led through intense instruction on technique, rehearsal procedures and musical
preparation of standard repertoire for full symphony orchestra by Dr. Gregory Pritchard, Music Director of the
Gwinnett Symphony Chamber Orchestra and Maestro Gnam, a Distinguished Artist in Residence at Mercer
University's Townsend School of Music and Music Director Emeritus of the Macon Symphony Orchestra.

The fifteenth annual January ICWC will be held January 12 to 15, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia.

For further information: internationalconductorsworkshopandcompetition.com

or contact; Maestro Gnam at: adriangnam@aol.com.