Oberlin

It was announced within the hour from San Francisco that Zoé Madonna, a fourth-year Oberlin student majoring in East Asian studies, has won the $10,000 Rubin Institute for Music Criticism prize.

Along with Madonna, three former members of the Oberlin Introduction to Music Criticism class taught by Donald Rosenberg, Mike Telin and Daniel Hathaway competed in the five-day event (read Mike Telin's blog posts here.) The following is from Zoë Madonna's biography on the Rubin Institute site.

Zoë Madonna participated in the audience competition during the 2012 Rubin Institute, where all three of her reviews advanced to the final round. She so enjoyed the experience that she eagerly enrolled in the Oberlin Conservatory's Introduction to Music Criticism class. A fourth-year East Asian studies major, anthropology minor, and avid writer and photographer, Madonna spent a semester studying in Japan and hopes to pursue a career in Japanese-English translation. She has been singing, playing piano, and listening to music since her childhood in Maplewood, New Jersey, and she chose Oberlin for the myriad musical opportunities it offers all students. Outside of class, she can be found at Oberlin's many concerts, singing with the historical-music vocal ensemble Collegium Musicum, hosting a radio show on campus station WOBC, teaching contra dance, or playing the accordion at local Irish music gatherings and farmers' markets.