Report from 4th Catacoustic Scholarship winners, Stephen Goist and Cole Guillien

In 2014 Catacoustic was fortunate enough to be able to award two scholarships, to two young music students to purchase their own viols. Here's what both of them have been up to this past year.

From Stephen:
Thanks to the generous scholarship from Catacoustic Consort last spring, my early music life has started to blossom. The scholarship allowed me to purchase a beautiful seven-string bass viol and it has been a catalyst for many opportunities in the early music community this year. In September and April, I was fortunate enough to participate in two of Catacoustic's performances, "He Who Sings, Prays Twice" and "The Turn of the Year," both of which were monumentally inspiring experiences. In February, I participated in two different events as part of Cincinnati's Early Music Festival: a set of four intimate concerts of assorted viol trios in local public libraries, and a rousing performance of "The Cries of London" by Orlando Gibbons during Classical Revolution at Northside Tavern. While wrapping up my master's degree in viola performance at CCM, I played in two viol consort performances as a part of the Early Music Lab and played the bass lines for a student performance of Strozzi's "Hor che Apollo." It has been quite a busy year!

I am so excited for what the future has coming my way. This June, I will be attending Oberlin's Baroque Performance Institute to dive a little deeper into the world of early music. I look forward to further exploring an area of music that I have loved for so long in such an intense, focused, high-level atmosphere. In the fall, I will be starting a Doctor of Musical Arts in viola performance, and I hope to incorporate early music studies into my curriculum as I continue with my professional and personal development in music.


I owe a huge thanks to Catacoustic Consort for their generous scholarship. Purchasing my own instrument has served as a gateway to so many opportunities, and it wouldn't have been possible without their help. I'd also like to thank my teacher, Annalisa Pappano, who has been such a strong source of support, inspiration, and encouragement over the past several years!

And from Cole:
I am so fortunate to have been one of the 2014 recipients of the Catacoustic scholarship. With the money received, I was able to purchase my first viola da gamba. In the past three years, I have grown increasingly close to this instrument. Its music, its history, its society, from my first encounter to the present, have been a source of intrigue and delight. 

Experiencing the cantata cycle Membra Jesu nostri with Catacoustic this fall was a remarkable experience that I will treasure always. It was a privilege to work with Annalisa and her colleagues on such a fantastic work. 

At the moment, I am pursuing a music career, however small, focusing on bringing the gamba and Baroque performance practice to the rural Midwest (my home). I am excited to bring the fascination I have developed for this music and culture to an equally interested group in eastern Iowa.