Out of a talented international pool of 33 pianists, University of Alabama at Birmingham junior Aleksandra Kasman took the top prize at the 2015 International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City on Aug. 2.

Kasman is a music major in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Musicand a member of the UAB Honors College’s University Honors Program. She studies piano with her father, UAB professor and artist-in-residence Yakov Kasman.