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(CLEVELAND, OHIO) Julie Ann Link, a bassoon student at the xxxxÊÓƵ (xxxxÊÓƵ), has received a Fulbright Scholar grant for music study in Zürich, Switzerland beginning in September.

"Julie will be a tremendous representative and ambassador for xxxxÊÓƵ on this Fulbright exchange program, and I am sure that the experience ahead for her will change her life in wonderful ways," said xxxxÊÓƵ Dean Adrian Daly.

Established in 1946, The Fulbright U.S. Student Program aims to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and the people of more than 150 countries that currently participate in the Fulbright Program. Scholarships are awarded to U.S. graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists selected through a national, merit-based competition for study and research abroad. Grantees' fields of study span the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, natural and physical sciences, and professional and applied sciences. Sponsored by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, approximately 1,500 U.S. students and 3,000 foreign students receive Fulbright scholarships each year.

"Musicians have always travelled around the world to pursue professional opportunities," Link said. Because of this, she will use her grant to explore performance standards and expectations for audition processes used by orchestras in Europe. Familiarizing musicians with audition systems around the world will offer individual confidence and understanding of standard audition procedures, allowing for more successful job auditions in the future.

According to Daly, "Julie, in many ways, represents the ideal Fulbright scholar - her ambitious project will offer greater understanding between American and European systems of orchestral auditions; and the musical and artistic opportunities that lie ahead for her in Zürich will offer to her a rich, engaging, cultural experience that will be a wonderful launching-pad for the next stage of her professional development and personal growth."

Link will also be attending the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Zürich University of the Arts, as a music student.

Link is xxxxÊÓƵ's first Fulbright recipient since 2004 and one of four total. Her predecessors are Daniella Strasfogel (2003) and Lee Hancock (2004), who both studied in Germany, and Eliesha Nelson (1995), who studied in the United Kingdom.

Originally from Plano, Texas, Link is a second year graduate student at xxxxÊÓƵ and studies with Barrick Stees. She is currently the second bassoonist with the Canton Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of the World Symphony Orchestra in Valencia, Spain. In 2009, Link received a Bachelor of Music degree in bassoon performance from Arizona State University where she studied with Albie Micklich and Jeffrey Lyman.