Hastings College music education major and saxophonist Erick Rodriguez of Grand Island, Nebraska, won the 2025 John Shildneck Young Artist Competition held by the Lincoln (Nebraska) Municipal Band.
Rodriguez will be the featured soloist in the band’s season opening concert at 7:00 p.m. on July 6 in the Antelope Park bandshell in Lincoln.
At Hastings College, Rodriguez participates in multiple ensembles, including the Hastings College band and jazz ensemble, and has appeared in the Hastings Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Erick has performed with the Nebraska Intercollegiate Band and represented Hastings College in the collegiate showcase recital at the 2023 Nebraska Music Educators Association conference in Lincoln.
Rodriguez’s achievement capped a successful year for the Department of Music and Theatre, which recently honored students with annual awards recognizing outstanding contributions in both disciplines for the 2024-25 academic year.
Hastings College Music awards were announced at the Music Finale Extravaganza on April 25. Hastings College Music recognized the work of 13 students for the year.
Those receiving awards include:
- Angie Amaya of Hastings, Nebraska – Millard Cates Choral Music award
- Clark Boettger of Grand Island, Nebraska – Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia “Outstanding Sinfonian”
- Maggie deFreese of Holdrege, Nebraska – Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
- Jason Jones of Colorado Springs, Colorado – Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia “Freshman Scholarship,” Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
- Karl Ludwig of La Junta, Colorado – Outstanding Senior in Music, Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
- Mekenzie Miller Kearney, Nebraska – Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
- Summer Postlewait of Venango, Nebraska – Gordon L. and Mary Ohlsson Music Award
- Erick Rodriguez of Grand Island, Nebraska – Outstanding Performer, James King Outstanding Bandsman Award, Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
- Dylan Shaw of Colorado Springs, Colorado – Elmer Christensen Award, NAfME State Convention Collegiate Recital Participant
- Rachel Smith of Osceola, Nebraska – Hastings College Outstanding Contributor in Music
- Daniel Steinhauser of Omaha, Nebraska – Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
- David Udlock of Castle Rock, Colorado – Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
- Anna Zentz of Grand Island, Nebraska – Nebraska Intercollegiate Honor Band Participant
As part of the annual Beaux Arts Awards on May 8, Hastings College Theatre honored eight students and inducted four new members into the Alpha Psi Omega theatre honorary.
As part of the event, colored masks recognizing different levels of contribution and achievement were awarded. The White Mask is for first-year theatre students, the Scarlet Mask is for students with two or more seasons of participation, and the Purple Mask is for students of junior or senior class standing with a minimum 3.6 GPA, high artistic achievement and meritorious service to the theatre.
Theatre students honored include:
- Maxwell Blankenship of Queen Creek, Arizona – Bernard C. Tushaus Award, Purple Mask
- Aynsley Brink of La Vista, Nebraska – Player of the Year, Outstanding Theatre Student Award, Hal Shiffler Award
- Claire Fuqua of Woodland Park, Colorado – Scarlet Mask, Lloyd S. & Helen M. Jones Theatre Award
- Claire Jacobs of Norwood, Colorado – Scarlet Mask, Lloyd S. & Helen M. Jones Theatre Award
- Maddie Kamler of Shickley, Nebraska – Shiffler Award
- Alex Schmidt of Smith Center, Kansas – Scarlet Mask
- Noah Sullivan of Centennial, Colorado – Scarlet Mask
- Peyton Wallace of Bennett, Colorado – White Mask, Lloyd S. & Helen M. Jones Theatre Award
Alpha Psi Omega (APO), the theatre honorary, inductees included
- Morgan Ashcraft of Limon Colorado
- Maggie deFreese of Holdrege, Nebraska
- Maddie Kamler of Shickley, Nebraska
- David Udlock of Castle Rock, Colorado
Hastings College is a four-year residential college that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Discover more at hastings.edu.
