Shorter University's Tareva Moore, Susanna Polley win musical performance scholarship

March 19, 2012 - Shorter University students Tareva Moore and Susanna Polley won the 2012 William and Mary Ann Knight Scholarship Competition.

The scholarship competition is designed to honor the outstanding contributions of the Knights, both longtime music faculty members at Shorter University. Mr. Knight is a retired distinguished professor of piano and taught at Shorter from 1963 until 2004. Mrs. Knight became a faculty member at Shorter in 1965 and retired in May 2010.

Exclusive to Shorter students, the competition showcases top performers that compete for two $1,000 scholarships; one in voice and one in keyboard. One winner per category is selected each year.

Moore, a junior vocal performance major, was named the winner of the vocal division of the scholarship competition. A resident of Sylvester, Moore competed against 20 singers to win the scholarship.

 “To be completely honest, I didn't believe I had heard my name after the winner was announced. I thought I had imagined it,” Moore said. “I knew that I would be competing against some of the most talented and wonderful people I know, so I prayed before that I could do my best and give my voice to the One who gave it to me. To God be the glory! Thank you to the Knights and Dr. Chuck Chandler.”

For her performance, Moore sang "Perduta ho la pace" by Giuseppe Verdi and "Seligkeit" by Franz Schubert.

Polley, a junior piano performance and biology double major, competed against threeother pianists to win her scholarship. “After I won, I felt surprised since I was playing against very talented pianists,” Polley said. “I was also relieved that all of my hard work actually paid off. Mostly I was just grateful for all of the support from the Knights, especially Mrs. Mary Ann Knight, because without her, I would never have ended up at Shorter -- much less a piano major. I also appreciated the support from my teacher Dr. Rebekah Jordan-Miller, my friends who were competing and otherwise, and my family.”

For her performance, Polley, a resident of Rome, played G.F. Handel's “Suite No. 2 in F major, I: Adagio,” Ludwig van Beethoven's “Sonata No. 17 in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2, I: Largo-Allegro,” and “Danza criolla” by Alberto Ginastera.

Founded in 1873, Shorter University is a Christian university committed to excellence in education. The Princeton Review annually includes Shorter on its lists of best value and best Southeastern colleges. The university offers traditional bachelor’s degrees in 48 major areas as well as undergraduate degree programs for working adults, the Master of Business Administration, the Master of Education and the Master of Arts in Leadership. General education and calculus courses are offered in an online format, and Shorter recently launched online programs that lead toward the Associate of Science, the Bachelor of Business Administration, and the Master of Accountancy degrees. For more information, visit www.shorter.edu.

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