Henry Woodruff, 18, of Solvang, a 12-year participant and graduate of Santa Barbara Strings, will be continuing his studies this fall as a Bachelor of Music student at the Juilliard School in New York under the tutelage of Misha Amory.

Woodruff is the recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, which includes a full-tuition scholarship, room and board, plus stipend, and is only given to one undergraduate violist each year.

Woodruff attended Ballard Elementary School. He began his musical training at the age of 3 under his mother Mary Beth Woodruff, before entering the Colburn Music Academy for high school in 2022.

At Colburn he studied viola with Teng Li and Jonathan Brown, received the Thibaudet Scholarship, and participated in master classes with such notable artists as Kim Kashkashian, Paul Neubauer, Steven Ansell, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

As an orchestral musician, Woodruff has served as principal violist in the Colburn Academy Virtuosi String Orchestra, where he was distinguished by his commitment to chamber music and artistic discovery.

He has been a festival participant and chamber musician, playing in summer festivals at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Tanglewood Institute, Moritzburg, Germany Festival, International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, England, Perlman Program at Shelter Island, NY, the Morningside Music Program at the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Ojai Music Festival under conductor Esa Pekka Salonen.

Recently, his quartet the Alpaca String Quartet won first prize at the acclaimed 53rd Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

“Henry is an amazing young musician and has been such a wonderful role model for the younger students in our program,” said Kyle Abello, Santa Barbara Strings executive director.

“With his passion for great classical music, his enthusiastic support for his fellow string players, and his unique sense of humor, he really embodies our unofficial motto ‘where excellence meets joy,’ ” Abello said.

Santa Barbara Strings is a nonprofit group providing comprehensive training for musicians from ages 4-19 in three progressive levels of string orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Open to all students, Santa Barbara Strings aims to inspire life-long understanding and appreciation of classical music of all eras.

For more on how to join, or how to support Santa Barbara Strings, visit www.santabarbarastrings.org.