UNC third-year music education student Jacie Matzke has played the clarinet for over a decade and taken part in numerous School of Music playing opportunities including the Wind Ensemble and others. Dedicated and inspired by her parents who are both music education teachers, Matzke wants to share her love of music through teaching after she graduates in December 2020. 

Her outstanding performance and dedication are a few reasons why she was awarded the $4,000 Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award from the Presser Foundation, a private foundation dedicated solely to music education and music philanthropy. She was recommended by numerous UNC music faculty members and was up against around 10 other third-year music student candidates nationwide.

"The Presser Undergrad Scholarship is given to a student at the end of their third year, and it's based on nominations from the faculty," said Matzke. "I'm really honored to have gotten the Presser; it's a big deal, and I think it's really cool."

Watch her talk more about her award and play a part of the first movement of Johannes Brahms Sonata in E flat, a piece she's working on for an upcoming recital:

— Produced by Katie-Leigh Corder