Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA — Alexander Lipay, principal flute player for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and a three-time winner of the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation’s annual music contest, has earned two new Grammy Awards.
Lipay won the awards for Best Classical Compendium 2024 and Best Orchestral Performance 2024 at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles earlier this month alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The awards recognized the orchestra’s recording of Revolución Diamantina, a ballet score by renowned Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz. Lipay engineered the recording alongside his father, Dmitriy Lipay.
With the latest additions, Alexander Lipay now has eight Grammy Awards to his name, as well as two Emmy Awards. His other Grammys are for Best Orchestral Performance 2023, Best Choral Performance 2021, Best Orchestral Performance 2021, Best Orchestral Performance 2020, Best Orchestral Performance 2019, and Best Surround Sound Album 2016.
Long before his multi-Grammy successes, Lipay was a student at the University of California Santa Barbara, where he studied under Jill Felber, an internationally acclaimed recording artist and flute professor at UCSB for 35 years. During that time, he competed in the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation’s annual music competitions, winning awards for flute performance in 2002, and piano performance in 2004 and 2005.
“It was an extremely valuable experience, because it was really one of my first competitions and performance opportunities,” Lipay said. “Careers in music are extremely competitive, and performing well, and winning first prize at PASF competition was a big first step in my music career, and a great learning experience.”
Felber, who joined the PASF board in 2024 after retiring from UCSB, said the competition is a great motivator for aspiring musicians and she encourages her students to participate. Felber’s flute students have received 28 awards, including 6 first place awards, at PASF competitions over the years. Among them are Azeem Ward who became an internet sensation in 2015 after a performance of his senior flute recital went viral on Facebook, and Alison Hazen Olsen, who won the Principal Flute position in the Ballet West Orchestra in 2016.
“The PASF competition provides students with an invaluable experience, one that accurately represents the time and commitment needed to pursue a career in music. The planning of repertoire and the intense preparation for the competition, including memorization of the program, is just as important as the actual competition,” Felber said. “The opportunity to perform in the auditions and in the final competition before a sophisticated musical audience is exhilarating for the students. As an award winner, the confidence boost the performers receive is priceless.”
Lipay was appointed Principal Flute of Tucson Symphony in 2006. He also serves as Principal Flute of True Concord Voices and Orchestra. Other prestigious awards he’s claimed include grand prize winner of the Bach International Music Competition, platinum winner of the Canadian International Music Competition, first prize winner of the MTNA Young Artist National Woodwind Competition, and first prize winner of the International Moscow Music Competition. He holds a Master of Music degree in flute performance from the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s degree with majors in flute and piano performance from UCSB.
The Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation is a nonprofit that supports classical music education in Santa Barbara County through scholarships and grants. Established in 1982, the foundation’s annual music competition encourages young musicians to strive for excellence and supports them in their growth as performers. The organization has supported hundreds of students through competition and encouragement awards totaling up to $35,000 annually.
— To find out more about the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation including student qualification and application requirements for the 2025 competition, visit www.pasfsb.org.