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New class of Canady Scholars named at WVU College of Creative Arts

2022 Canady Scholars

The West Virginia University College of Creative Arts has named 26 students as Canady Scholars. To be considered for the award, students must have a high grade-point average, faculty references and be fluent in two languages.

The Canady Scholarship is awarded thanks to the Valerie Canady Charitable Trust Foundation. The scholarships are named for Valerie Canady, a Morgantown native and WVU summa cum laude graduate, who was among the 270 people who died in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in Dec. 1988. Canady, who worked for H.J. Heinz Co. in their London office, was an accomplished linguist and artist in different media of expression, especially in piano.

“Valerie’s parents, Loulie and William, created the Canady Scholars Awards with a belief that the arts and the pursuit of fluency in multiple languages provide humanity with important tools for greater understanding,” said College of Creative Arts Dean Keith Jackson. “Their dedication to this cause is an inspiration to all who look to culture as the needed vehicle for a deeper understanding of the human condition.”

This year’s Canady Scholarship recipients are:

Fei Xia – DMA, Vocal Performance

Wenjun Xia – DMA, Piano Performance

Sean Elliott – DMA, Violin Performance

Lim Jing (Zoey) – BM, Music Composition

Riley Ann Klug – BA, Art History

Ryan Limanto – MM, Flute Performance

Annie Moon – BM, Horn Performance

Ethan Charles Nylander – BM, Flute Performance

Irene Guerra Rudas – DMA, Violin Performance

Weiyang Sun – DMA, Piano Performance

Ana Paola Vergara Abascal Sherwell – BM, Vocal Performance

Esperanza Abarca – BFA, Art Education/Ceramics

Yangyang Cao – DMA, Piano Performance

Sophia Noelle Villano – BFA, Acting – BA, Spanish

Lucas Barkley – DMA, Collaborative Piano

Hyunjung “Jenny” Marsat – BFA, Ceramics

Claudia Sevilla – MFA, Acting

Joseph Boulos – MM, Jazz Pedagogy & MA, Musicology

Tong Ding – DMA, Collaborative Piano

Gerardo Sanchez Pastrana – DMA, Cello Performance

Linxi Yang – DMA, Collaborative Piano

Layla Wilson – BM, Music Therapy

Tatiana Zakharova – BA, Graphic Design

Ruth Hartmann – BA, Cello Performance

Christian James Rhen – BM, Jazz Studies & Composition

Tingyu Yan – DMA, Vocal Performance

The Canady family has provided generous support to the College of Creative Arts for many years. The Creative Arts Center was renamed in 2020 to the Loulie, Valerie and William Canady Creative Arts Center, in honor of leadership gift from Valerie Canady Charitable Foundation.

The Canady Fund for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts provides for arts programming, educational enrichment opportunities, building improvements and discretionary support to benefit students, faculty and staff within the College of Creative Arts. The ongoing Canady Chamber Series brings classical music acts from across the country to Morgantown and the Canadys also played an important philanthropic role in creating the Art Museum of WVU. They were honored for their contributions as WVU’s Most Loyal West Virginians in 2018. 

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