Wilson Kuhnel ’12 of Roanoke, Virginia, has been selected as the 2011 Noland Fellow. Wilson will spend a month in Germany studying its language and music. He will enroll in an intensive German language course at the Goethe-Institut and will also take master classes on Brahms’s first piano concerto.

Wilson’s undertaking is made possible through the Noland Summer Fellowship program, funded by Lloyd “Bud” Noland III ’62, who established it with members of his family through the Noland Memorial Foundation in honor of his father. The program provides financial support to students who wish to pursue projects that, in Bud Noland’s words, “offer truly life-changing experiences to the very best Woodberry students.”

Dr. Matt Boesen, who chairs the committee charged with selecting each year’s fellowship recipient, praises Wilson’s excellent proposal. “The language component of Wilson's project springs from a longstanding interest in the German language,” Boesen explains, “which, in turn, is a product of his German ancestry.” Regarding the musical aspect of the project, Boesen elaborates, “Wilson developed a particular passion for Brahms under the tutelage of Wallace Hornady, a member of Woodberry's music department and Wilson's project adviser.”

When asked how he landed on his proposal, Wilson says, "I just thought about what I enjoyed doing the most — playing piano and learning languages. So the proposal almost wrote itself.”

Wilson is grateful to the faculty members and donors who support him: “I just extend my most sincere gratitude to Mr. Hornady, my project adviser, who helped me channel my interests and find a host family, to the Noland family for setting this fund up, and to the committee for offering me this opportunity."