News Release

Mónica López-González, a graduating senior from Towson, Md., has been named recipient of The Johns Hopkins University's 2005 Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for her piano performance of music by Cuban and Spanish composers Ernesto Lecuona and Isaac Albéniz. López-González performed Lecuona's "Suite Espagnole," and Albéniz's "El Albaic¡n" from the "Iberia" suite.

"She did a wonderful job expressing the feeling of the music, the passion," said Julie Morgan, chair of the Sudler Prize committee. "It was amazing how quickly [the committee] came to a consensus."

The $1,500 Sudler Prize is awarded annually, typically to a graduating senior or fourth-year medical student who does not plan to pursue a career in the arts but displays artistic talent. This year, López-González was selected out of 14 applicants.

Since she was 2, López-González has been studying classical music and taking lessons at The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins. As a student at Johns Hopkins, López-González began to concentrate on Spanish composers to better understand her native language through music.

She plans to use the grant to purchase South American music for her duo, which performs Brazilian and Argentinean music.

She is graduating with a double degree in psychology and French literature. After graduation, she will pursue a doctorate in psycholinguistics in the Johns Hopkins Cognitive Science Department.

Of the award, López-González said, "I'm thrilled that the committee appreciated what I performed, that they valued how I've sought to further enrich my study of human cognition through the performance of music, Spanish in this case."

López-González is the daughter of José López-González and Irene González. She is a graduate of the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. To speak with her, contact Amy Cowles at 443- 287-9960 or amycowles@jhu.edu.