Class of 2024

Monet Jowers, horn

Monet Jowers (horn) and her beloved horn, Hubert Sibelius, enjoy being a part of the music department at Chapel Hill.  Monet has been a Florida All-State Band member for five years.  She spent two summers in Vermont at the Kinhaven Music School, studying piano and horn under the instruction of Mimi Solomon and Carolyn Wahl.  She has a background in piano studies, and has performed as a piano concerto soloist with Space Coast Symphony and her high school orchestra.  In her senior year, Monet attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in the studio of Dr. Maria Serkin.  She played principal horn in the Winston-Salem Symphony Youth Orchestra and won an opportunity to perform as a concerto soloist.  Most recently, Monet and Hubert became first-place national winners in the MTNA Senior Brass Division.  Besides her music studies, Monet is pursuing a biology degree, and takes a keen interest in epigenetics, evolutionary biology, and personalized medicine.  Sīc sē dēdicāt, in ōtiō labōribus fidēque in Chrīstō.

Frances Norton, violin

Frances Norton (violin) is a senior at UNC from Chapel Hill, NC, pursuing a double major in Music and English, and a recipient of the Kenan Music Scholarship. In addition to playing in musical ensembles, she works with UNC’s Actively Moving Forward (AMF) chapter, a student-led grief support community, where she is co-president.

In her free time, she loves being with her family and friends, reading books and poetry, and making vegan soups with her cousins.

Ryan Phillips, clarinet

Ryan Phillips (clarinet) is a senior from Fairfax, Virginia. He has played the clarinet since fifth grade and studied with Kenneth Lee before college. Ryan has played in wind ensembles, symphony orchestras, chamber groups, and theatrical pit orchestras. He has played in such groups as The Capitol Symphonic Youth Orchestra, Virginia Winds Academy’s Symphonic Winds, VBODA Senior Regional Orchestra, and VBODA All-Virginia Concert Band. At UNC, he has played in chamber groups and the UNC Symphony Orchestra. Ryan studied music abroad through UNC’s Burch Field Research Seminar in London and Florence. He is pursuing a second major in English and is a member of Honors Carolina. Outside of music, Ryan is passionate about service and writing; he is the Editor-in-Chief of UNC’s Health Humanities Journal, a devoted member of the university’s chapter of Musical Empowerment, and an aspiring playwright. He is the winner of the 2023 Sam Selden Student Playwriting Award. He is very grateful for the opportunity to be a Kenan Music Scholar. Ryan is a student of Donald Oehler.