MM flute student Erica Nightengale was recently awarded one of UNO’s prestigious Graduate Research and Creative Activity (GRACA) grant awards for her upcoming research project, “Contemporary Flute Music of Argentina.” Of over 100 graduate student applicants, Erica was one of only 40  proposals to be accepted by the committee to receive funding this year.

The nearly $5,000.00 award will be used to help cover expenses for Erica to travel to Argentina to attend the VIII Festival Flautas del Mundo (World Flutes Festival) in September 2016 in an effort to discover and collect modern, unpublished works for flute and interview living Argentine composers in both Mendoza and Buenos Aires. Upon completion of her research, Erica will select and prepare multiple works to perform in a lecture-recital at UNO in December 2016. She will also submit her findings to prominent flute journals and apply to present her research at various flute festivals and music conferences across the United States.

Erica’s flute teacher and research advisor is Dr. Christine Beard.