May 19, 2025
PARKERSBURG — Two students from Washington County are the 2025 winners of the Donna Campbell Award for Excellence established with Artsbridge by the conductor of the American Pops Orchestra, Luke Frazier.
Alex Long of Fort Frye High School and Hanna Richmond of Belpre High School will each receive a $1,500 award from the scholarship.
The Donna Campbell Award for Excellence was established by Maestro Luke Frazier, a Parkersburg native, and is administered by Artsbridge. The award, created in 2019, honors Frazier’s grandmother, Donna Campbell.
Long is a senior at Fort Frye High School. She has been active in many of the arts opportunities throughout her high school career, including Theater Club and classes from Art 1 to Art 4 and an Independent study. She plans to go to the University of Northern Colorado to continue her education with a major in music business and recording arts. She hopes to work in music production or audio engineering while continuing to create music of her own.
Richmond is a senior at Belpre High School. She says music has been an integral part of her life growing up.
“I enjoyed singing at school talent shows and plays, so I was invited to perform at the Smoot Spring Sing in third grade. I enjoyed it so I properly joined the Smoot Theater Children’s Chorus the following year. At the same time, I started to take violin lessons from Esther Cabobos, a student at the Marietta Bible College. In fifth grade I started to play the alto saxophone in class and later moved to the tenor saxophone. When I moved to the high school campus, I joined the Belpre High School Marching Band and have been a part of the band since,” she said.
Richmond wanted to go into music education, but later realized she enjoyed performing more than teaching. She attended Washington County Career Center her junior year for the Graphic Design and Video Production program. Richmond will be graduating from Washington State College of Ohio with an Associate of Individualized Study along with her high school diploma thanks to these courses.
She plans to attend Ohio University this fall to study film. After graduation, she hopes to use her music and video production background to create films that inspire children just as so many have inspired her.
Applications for next year will be announced in early 2026. The award is available to graduating seniors in the Artsbridge service area who will attend college in the fall with a major in one of the fine arts. Frazier is a graduate of Parkersburg South High School, West Virginia University and Ohio University. He founded the American Pops Orchestra in 2015.
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