Diana Quintero, violin, and Gildalee Yrigoyen, bass, are excited to begin their assistantship with the UCF School of Performing Arts and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Diana, who holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance, studied under Routa Kroumovitch-Gomez; and Gildalee Yrigoyen, holding a Bachelor of Arts in World Languages and Cultures with a minor in Music, studied under Michael Hill at Stetson University School of Music. Both have performed together throughout their years at Stetson in orchestral ensembles and are excited to continue their musical journey together at the graduate level.

In partnership with the UCF School of Performing Arts and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, the OPUS Scholars program is a first-of-its-kind educational curriculum that offers professional resume-building orchestral experience, formal study in all facets of performing arts administration with leaders in the field and institution-backed support for a 21st-century career.

Students accepted into the program will earn a Master of Arts in Music Studies and receive a graduate student assistantship.

Students awarded the assistantships will receive a stipend of $10,000 for nine months and a tuition waiver during each of their two years of study. Duties for the assistantship include two to three rehearsal-performance series per semester as an OPUS Scholar-member of the Orlando Philharmonic.