Palm Beach Symphony Names Prize Winners

Photo Credit: IndieHouse Films
L-R: Palm Beach Symphony’s 2025 Randolph A. Frank Prize for the Performing Arts winners Amrutha Murthy, Nancy Beebe and Evgeniya Antonyan

(Press Release) West Palm Beach, Florida (June 3, 2025) – Three talented, inspiring women have been awarded Palm Beach Symphony’s Randolph A. Frank Prize for the Performing Arts for their contributions to the enhancement of the cultural and artistic life of Palm Beach County, their commitment to excellence in the field and, when applicable, their teaching experience. This marks the first time the award was presented to all females. 

Since 2019, Palm Beach Symphony has honored up to three individual performing artists and arts educators in Palm Beach County who split a $10,000 monetary prize. 

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Russian violinist and international competition laureate Evgeniya Antonyan was recognized in the category of Performing Artist. Antonyan teaches orchestra in schools in Palm Beach County including Berkshire Elementary School and The King’s Academy, both in West Palm Beach. At her violin/viola studio, Antonyan inspires students to excel in music through her dynamic approach to education. Many of her students have gone on to win competitions, contributing to her lasting impact on the local community. She has successfully prepared many students for auditions at prestigious arts schools in Palm Beach County, including Bak Middle School of the Arts and Dreyfoos School of the Arts. In 2023 and 2025, Antonyan was selected as a judge for All-County Orchestra violin auditions. She remains dedicated to sharing her love of music through performance and teaching. Antonyan regularly performs with Palm Beach Symphony, Palm Beach Opera and Atlantic Classical Orchestra, as well as various other local orchestras and ensembles. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory and has performed extensively with various ensembles internationally.

Recipient of the Randoph A. Frank Prize in the Performing Arts Educator category is Nancy Beebe, who has just retired from Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach following 37 years of dedicated teaching, 27 of which were spent as the String Director at Bak. Over the years, she has inspired many of her students to become teachers. Among her former pupils are Palm Beach Symphony double bassist and Dreyfoos Orchestra Director Jeffrey Adkins, who received the 2024 Randolph A. Frank Prize in the Emerging Artist category, and Kelsey Lin, who currently teaches at The Conservatory School @ North Palm Beach and will be assuming Beebe’s current role at Bak in August. For the past two Palm Beach Symphony Masterworks Concert Series seasons, Beebe’s students have played pre-concert performances in the Kravis Center lobby. Under her leadership, the Advanced String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and Intermediate String Orchestras at Bak Middle School have received Superior ratings at the Florida Orchestra Association’s Music Performance Assessments, and under her direction, the Advanced String Orchestra has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, Symphony Hall in Boston, the Royal Academy of Music in London, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the American String Teachers Association’s National Conference in Atlanta and the Florida Music Education Association’s President’s Concert. Beebe is an active guest conductor and certified adjudicator for the state of Florida, and past president of the Florida Orchestra Association and Florida American String Teachers Association.

This year’s honoree in the Emerging Artist category is Amrutha Murthy, who after earning a double major in Music Education and Flute Performance from the University of North Texas  (UNT) became Band Director at Park Vista Community High School in Lake Worth in 2022. Under her leadership, Park Vista’s bands have achieved international recognition and consistently earned Straight Superior ratings in the Florida Bandmasters Association Marching, Concert and State-level Music Performance Assessments. The Marching Band was named a 2024 Bands of America Orlando Finalist and earned third place in the Florida Marching Band Coalition State Finals. At the opening Masterworks Concert of the 2024-25 season, Palm Beach Symphony’s audience was treated to a pre-concert performance by the school’s Striking Cobra Marching Band and a surprise side-by-side performance of the national anthem with Palm Beach Symphony at the Kravis Center in November 2024. The Wind Ensemble performed at the Music for All Orlando Affiliate Festival in April 2025, and in 2023 was awarded the prestigious Otto J. Kraushaar Award for Superior Performance at the state level. As a performing artist, Murthy has premiered works for solo flute, performed on composer albums and GIA Publication records with the UNT Wind Orchestra. She has additionally performed with the North Texas Wind Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, Chamber Ensembles and Composition Department Ensembles. Furthermore, Murthy served as student administrator for logistics and operations for the renowned Green Brigade Marching Band and has been selected for elite conducting symposia, including those at Ithaca College, the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, Northwestern University and University of Colorado Boulder. Murthy was also honored as the 2021 UNT Presser Scholar and an Honors College Distinguished Scholar. 

The Randolph A. Frank Prize was established in 2009 by Nancy and Jay Parker, longtime friends of Dr. Randolph A. Frank, an avid patron of the arts. Palm Beach Symphony has managed and hosted the prize since 2019. 

Nominations for the 2026 awards will open in November 2025 and close in February 2026. Nominees are judged by a panel of industry professionals from Palm Beach County and beyond. Applicants may self-nominate or be nominated by someone who can speak to their artistic contributions, achievements, goals, experience and commitment to excellence in their field. To learn more about eligibility criteria and for a complete list of previous winners, visit PalmBeachSymphony.org. 

Palm Beach Symphony’s education programs are made possible through support from The Paul and Sandra Goldner Conservatory of Music, Jacqueline and Ray K. Farris, The McNulty Charitable Foundation, James R. Borynack and Adolfo Zaralegui/Findlay Galleries, Herbert H. and Barbara C. Dow Foundation, Mr. William Robertson, Charles Frederick Schmidt, The Annette Urso Rickel Foundation, Edith Hall Friedheim/Eric Friedheim Foundation, PNC Foundation, The Walter & Adi Blum Foundation, Inc., James H. and Marta T. Batmasian Family Foundation Inc., Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Foundation Inc., Komansky Foundation, Josephine DuPont Bayard, Al Zucaro, Yvonne S. Boice Trust and Lois Pope, with additional funding from Cultural Council for Palm Beach County Arts and Cultural Education Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Proud sponsors of Palm Beach Symphony include Cindy and Jerome Canty, Mrs. James N. Bay, Carol and Harold Baxter, C. Kenneth and Laura Baxter Foundation, Inc., JoAnne Berkow, Kathy Lee Bickham and John Bickham, Leslie Rogers Blum, Yvonne S. Boice Trust and Alfred Zucaro, Jeffrey and Tina Bolton, James R. Borynack and Adolfo Zaralegui / FINDLAY Galleries, Jerome J. Claeys, Thomas and Carol Bruce, CIBC Private Wealth, Amy and John Collins, The Colony Hotel, CORPGOV, Suzanne Mott Dansby, The David Minkin Foundation, Michelle DuBois and James Roiter, Jacqueline and Ray K. Farris, Mary and Will Demory, Herbert H. and Barbara C. Dow Foundation,  Willard H. Dow and Kelly Winter, Dr. Richard and Diane Farber, Bill and Kem Frick/The Frick Foundation, Inc., Edith Hall Friedheim/Eric Friedheim Foundation, Gerry Gibian and Marjorie Yashar, Paul and Sandra Goldner, Douglas and Jo Gressette, Irwin and Janet Gusman, Walter Harper, Thomas E. Harvey & Cathleen P. Black Foundation, Doris Hastings Foundation, Carol S. and Joseph Andrew Hays, John Herrick, Addison Hines Charitable Trust, George Hines, HSS Florida, IPO Edge, Charles and Ann Johnson/The C and A Johnson Family Foundation, Elaine Kay, Aban and Percy Kavasmaneck, Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation, The Kovner Foundation, Gary and Linda Lachman/The Lachman Family Foundation, Patricia Lambrecht/The Lambrecht Family Foundation, Lugano Diamonds, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, The Honorable Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, The McNulty Charitable Foundation, Tish Messinger, David Moscow, Palm Beach Design Masters, Patrick and Milly Park/Park Foundation, Nancy and Ellis J. Parker, III, PNC Private Bank, Lois Pope, Provident Jewelry, Ari Rifkin/The Len-Ari Foundation, Dr. Martha Rodriguez and Dr. Jesus Perez-Mendez, Annette Urso Rickel Foundation, Karen Hunt Rogers, The Honorable Ronald A. Rosenfeld, David Schafer, Seth Sprague Foundation, Robin B. Smith, Kimberly V. Strauss, Dodie and Manley Thaler and the Thaler/Howell Foundation, Don and Mary Thompson, Jerome and Carol Trautschold, Sieglinde Wikstrom/The Wikstrom Foundation, and The Ann Eden Woodward Foundation/James and Judy Woods.
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