CCM Starling Prep violinist named semi-finalist in Sphinx Competition

The UC College-Conservatory of Music is proud to announce that Anthony Dorsey, a longtime student in the CCM Starling Preparatory String Project, was recently named a Junior Division Semi-Finalist in the annual Sphinx Competition.

Based in Detroit, the Sphinx Organization is a nationwide social justice organization which fosters the talents of Black and Latinx string players and promotes diversity in classical music. Dorsey, a senior at St. Xavier High School, is joined at the semi-finals by Sonya Moomaw, a former student of CCM Prep’s Junior Strings Program and current student at the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts. 

A member of the National Honor’s Society, Dorsey has participated in CCM’s Starling Preparatory String Project for six years, studying with CCM Professor of Violin Kurt Sassmannshaus. Founded by Sassmannshaus in 1987, the Starling program provides talented young string players with weekly private lessons, music theory curriculum and the opportunity to perform with the Starling Chamber Orchestra.

In addition to his success in the Sphinx Competition, Dorsey is a winner of the 2024 Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award, and will appear as a soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra in 2024 as part of their Young People’s Concert and Stained-Glass Concert Series.

The 27th annual Sphinx Competition will be held in Detroit in January 2024. Each year, the competition awards over $100,000 in prizes to promising talents from around the country, and provides finalists the opportunity to perform with the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, an all Black and Latinx ensemble comprised of professionals from around the country. The competition is split into two divisions — Senior (ages 18-30) and Junior (Ages 17 and under). Winners from both divisions have gone on to have successful performance careers.

“Sphinx envisions a day where the classical music field looks like our communities,” reads the organization’s website. “Where every young person has the opportunity to express themselves and learn classical music; where audiences reflect the people we see on our streets; and where leadership — on stage and off — includes all deserving voices.”