August 14, 2015

Student wins award for audio documentary

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Marianna Hawryluk

Dianna Hawryluk accepts the Silver Radio Winner award (first place) for best student documentary.

NEW YORK – Dianna Hawryluk of Cottekill, N.Y., took home first place in the International New York Festivals audio documentary category for her production titled, “Let Music Live! A Journey Through SUNY Fredonia Choral Department.”

An audio/video major in the Communication Department at Fredonia State University of New York, Miss Hawryluk was honored for her excellent storytelling and production skills as a Silver Radio Winner at the New York Festivals International Radio Competition in New York City.

Previously, she won first place in the Student Specialty Program (Audio) category at the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts in Las Vegas. The Communicator International Awards also honored her production with the Award of Distinction.

Inspired by a rich Ukrainian musical heritage and her admiration for the Fredonia State University’s Choral Department, Miss Hawryluk utilized her audio production skills and musical ability to tell a brilliant story about a team of devoted choral conductors and their students. She sought to shine a spotlight on the excellence of the Fredonia State University Choral Department and the major works presented by the choral department. As a student at Fredonia, Miss Hawryluk performed in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Lord Nelson Mass by Haydn, and the Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein. She said she believes these performances offer significant experience for Fredonia students by presenting complete performances of major choral works.

Miss Hawryluk’s mentor, choral conductor Andrij Stasiw, attended the New Festivals Award Ceremony at the Manhattan Penthouse on Fifth Avenue with her mother, Marianna Hawryluk; Fredonia Radio Systems alumni Bryan VanGelder, studio and production manager and audio engineer at CBS Interactive; Katie Fuchs, senior account executive of the Lippin Group; and FSU faculty member Laura Johnson. They were joined at the table by a group of radio/audio producers from the BBC in London and WNYC FM.

The New York Festivals recognizes excellence in the international fields of advertising, TV and film, radio programming, financial advertising, health care and marketing advertising.

Within the category of student documentaries, Miss Hawryluk was competing against students from Great Britain, China, South Korea, Australia, Germany and many other countries. During the course of the evening’s award presentations, Miss Hawryluk watched in awe as professional producers from CBS, BBC and other radio producers from over 20 countries accepted their awards for a host of categories.

During her acceptance speech, Miss Hawryluk thanked her instructors and mentor, Mr. Stasiw. As her music instructor at a Ukrainian American Youth Association Camp in 2009, Mr. Stasiw said he immediately recognized her brilliance as a musician with a strong ear and perfect pitch. Her talent extends well into the world of producing and storytelling, and her early recognition by the international radio community is a testament to her uniqueness, he added.

Miss Hawryluk has worked throughout her high school years at the Soyuzivka Heritage Center and is expected to graduate from SUNY Fredonia in 2017. She is a member of Ukrainian National Association Branch 88.

(Portions of this article were previously published in a SUNY Fredonia press release.)

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