Wikle Named 2012-13 Presser Scholar

Olivia Wikle, a music major from Columbia, Mo., has been named a Presser Scholar for the 2012-2013 academic year.

The “Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award” is given to an outstanding music major at the end of his or her junior year. The Presser Foundation honored Wikle with this prestigious award this spring. Wikle is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in music, with minors in anthropology and folklore. She is the daughter of Chris and Carolyn Wikle of Columbia, Mo., and is a graduate of Hickman High School.

PresserScholar2012online.jpg
Olivia Wikle accepts a check representing her Presser Scholar award from
Randall Smith, left, professor of music, and University President Troy D. Paino.


At Truman, Wikle studies saxophone with Randall Smith, professor of music. She performs as a tenor saxophonist with Truman’s Wind Symphony I and Saxophone Quartet. In Fall 2011, the Saxophone Quartet won second place at the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Chamber Music Competition. In addition to performing, she is a member of the women’s professional music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota; a freshman theory mentor; and a teaching assistant for Basic Keyboard Skills I and II. In Summer 2011, she was the recipient of one of Truman’s Grants in Aid of Scholarship and Research. The product of that research, a presentation and paper entitled “The Singing Never Stopped: The Transformation of Scottish and American Supernatural Balladry,” was presented by Wikle at the 2012 National Conference on Undergraduate Research at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. During the spring semester, Wikle was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.

Wikle plans to continue her formal studies in music by pursuing a graduate degree in musicology beginning in Fall 2013.

Theodore Presser is remembered not only as the publisher of Etude, the music magazine, and the founder of the great music publishing firm bearing his name, but also as a philanthropist who specialized in music education.
Next