Sadie Carroll ’23 Awarded Bronze Medal for Music Composition at National ACT-SO Competition
Sadie Carroll ’23 recently earned the national distinction of being a bronze medalist at the NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) competition. A cellist and composer, Carroll competed in the music composition category and earned the prize for her original composition, “Capriccio,” a classical piece for cello and piano, which received its premiere at Rivers in 2022.
Run by the NAACP since 1978, ACT-SO “inspires young Black students to expand their horizons and sharpen their skills.” From performing and culinary arts to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), students can demonstrate their talents in up to three competition areas across 32 competitive fields.
A 2023 graduate of The Conservatory Program at Rivers, a co-curricular program at Rivers for music and musical theater students, Carroll began composing music during her high school years and composed her award-winning composition, “Capriccio,” in her sophomore year. She says she began thinking about composing when she learned about the 18th-century classical composer Chevalier de Saint-Georges, who is sometimes referred to as the “Black Mozart,” in her Conservatory Program composition elective with RSC composer Stephen Halloran.
Carroll intends to study music at the University of Miami this fall, where she will pursue cello performance and continue writing music. On behalf of all of us from the Rivers community, congratulations, Sadie!
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