Photo Provided Ethan Hupp of Ravenswood High School on Saturday was named the first Dr. James F. Dunphy Scholar. Back row, from left, Hupp; Brayden Walcutt, a Parkersburg South High School junior; and Jake McGraw, a Ripley Middle School eighth-grader. Front row, Zoe Daugherty, a Williamstown High School eighth-grader; Nicholas Bain, a Wirt County Middle School eighth-grader; Aireen Maurisio, a Parkersburg High School freshman. The students posed in the Trinity Episcopal Church in Parkersburg.

RAVENSWOOD — A Ravenswood High School student is the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra’s first Dr. James F. Dunphy Memorial Scholar.

Sophomore Ethan Hupp, who plays the French horn, was one of six finalists for the new scholarship that offers private music lessons with a West Virginia Symphony musician, the opportunity to attend symphony rehearsals and meetings with Music Director Lawrence Loh. The scholarship is open to students in grades 8 through 11 in Jackson, Pleasants, Ritchie, Wirt and Wood counties.

Hupp was the second-chair in the West Virginia All-State Band this year and is a member of the West Virginia All-State Chamber Choir. He has been a member of the West Virginia All-Area Band and his high school marching band for three years, a member of Ravenswood’s concert band for five years and the concert choir for four years.

He also sings with Concert Choir Select, the school’s advanced choral group, and Rave Revue, Vocal Dimensions, West Virginia All-State Children’s Choir and West Virginia Honor Choir. Hupp also is an accomplished drum major.

Hupp is a “very talented young musician” with aspirations to become a professional hornist, is “very curious about orchestral music” and “shows great leadership,” said Ravenswood Band Director Scott Tignor, who recommended Hupp for the scholarship.

In his application, Hupp said he was at a day-long Drum Corps International competition, listening to outstanding drum corps perform, when “I thought to myself: This is it. This is what I have to do with my life. Music.”

The Dunphy family established the Dr. James F. Dunphy Memorial Scholarship Fund this year to honor James Dunphy, 1930-2011, a lifelong devotee of and advocate for classical music who lived in Parkersburg for nearly 40 years. Dunphy was a research scientist for DuPont and studied music as a passion and hobby.

Besides offering personal instruction to a music student, the scholarship fund also supports visits by Loh to instruct students in the Wood County Strings Program and additional educational lectures in Wood County schools.

The selection committee, which interviewed the finalists and listened to their auditions on Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Parkersburg, included members of Dunphy’s family, a symphony musician and staffer.

Finalists were Nicholas Bain, an eighth-grade alto saxophone player at Wirt County Middle School; Zoe Daugherty, an eighth-grade violinist at Williamstown High School; Aireen Maurisio, a freshman trumpet player at Parkersburg High School; Jake McGraw, an eighth-grade tuba player at Ripley Middle School; and Braydon Walcutt, a junior trombone player at Parkersburg South High School.

“The experience was, as expected, amazing, and we’re so pleased to support Ethan in his goal to take his impressive musical skills to the next level,” Jocelyn Dunphy, Dunphy’s daughter, said. “Here’s to an awesome year ahead!”

The symphony, described as West Virginia’s premier performing arts organization, presents classical, pops, family and chamber-music concerts annually throughout the Mountain State. The symphony is in its 78th season.