School of Music student Brandon Cain has been named one of the University of Washington’s 2024 Husky 100, recognized by the UW as being exemplary of a student making the most of their University of Washington experience. The annual recognition is granted to 100 undergraduate, graduate and professional students from the UW Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma campuses in all areas of study.
Cain, a senior who graduates this June with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education (Instrumental/General Emphasis), a Bachelor of Arts in Music (Instrumental Option), and a Minor in Education, Learning, & Society (ELS), is a full-time student teacher with the Snoqualmie Valley School District working at Mount Si High School and at Snoqualmie Valley middle schools. While a UW student, he has performed in the trumpet section of numerous School of Music ensembles, including the Husky Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Studio Jazz Ensemble.
Besides academics, Cain is deeply engaged in a variety of service and leadership organizations and activities, having served as an ASUW senator, and member of a number of registered student organizations as well as Theta Delta Chi Fraternity. He also took a turn as Harry the Husky through his Husky Marching Band affiliation and found time to earn a Husky Leadership Certificate through the UW’s Community Engagement and Leadership Education Center (CELE).
After Cain earns his undergraduate degrees, he says he plans to continue serving others through the education system, with aspirations of teaching music at the secondary level.
“My unwavering commitment to leadership, music, education, and enriching the world around us has allowed me to positively influence numerous communities during my Husky Experience.” Cain says. “I do what I do because I deeply care about every human and their journey going through this wondrous adventure called life.”
The Husky 100 also recognized undergraduates Ruby Whelen and Karsten Lomax, who participated in School of Music ensembles while earning their UW degrees.
Whelen, a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Sociology with a minor in Data Science, is currently writing her thesis on the intersection of gender, stigma, and incarceration. Aside from her thesis, Ruby sings in University Chorale and UW Chamber Singers and performs in musicals with UW Stage Notes.
Through roles encompassing undergraduate research in Criminal Justice and Sociology, leadership and performance positions with UW Stage Notes, advocacy with The Pad Project, and global immersion through UW Study Abroad, Whalen has cultivated a diverse and valuable skill set. “I am eager to leverage these experiences and abilities,” she says, “to address pressing social and environmental challenges in order to help create a more sustainable and equitable future.”
Karsten Lomax, a senior majoring in Comparative History of Ideas and Cinema and Media Studies, found an important sense of community at the School of Music. “I have found relationships and community at the UW that have granted me the space and freedom to be vulnerable while exploring and experimenting with research and creative work,” Lomax says. “One of the very first communities I found was the UW Chorale. It’s been there year after year as everything else changed. I am so grateful for music and music making with this incredible group.”