Abigail Walton

2025 Betsy L. Kent Concerto Competition Winner, College Division

Abigail is an active percussionist based in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Beginning her studies on piano at a young age, she later felt drawn towards the dynamic energy of percussion. Inclined towards keyboard percussion, she won first place in the collegiate division of Penn State University’s 2025 Marimba Festival and attended the inaugural 2025 Nashville Marimba Sessions. She has also found recent competition success with Nathan Daughtrey’s Concerto for Vibraphone, performing the work with the West Chester University (WCU) Wind Symphony, WCU Percussion Ensemble, and WCU Symphony Orchestra. She is thrilled to share the piece with the Newark Symphony Orchestra.2025 Betsy L. Kent Concerto Competition Winner, College Division

Passionate about education and pedagogy, Abby teaches at both Mosaic Music Lessons (Phoenixville, PA) and WCU’s Community Music Program. She enjoys successfully preparing students of all ages and abilities for their musical goals, ranging from school talent shows to collegiate auditions. Her other love is for research, seen through her clinic presentation at Penn State University’s 2026 Percussion Festival and participation in WCU’s 2024 Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI). Her varied research interests include grades K-3 percussion pedagogy, historically informed performance practice, and feminist musicology.

Abby will graduate from West Chester University with a BM Instrumental Performance in May 2026, where she presently studies with Dr. Ralph Sorrentino and Professor Chandler Beaugrand. She will be continuing her education at McGill University (Montréal, QC) in Fall 2026, pursuing an MM with Thesis in Orchestral Instruments – Percussion.