Thousands of young singers in the United States have one thing in common: the Classical Singer High School Competition. The competition, which began in 2005, has given some $6 million in scholarships to high school- and college-age singers. CS caught up with four recent competitors to find out how their college careers are going and what impact the competition had on them.
Jena Abati
Jena Abati’s singing career took off when she began performing with a children’s choir at five years of age. At the age of nine she started private voice lessons, and by age 12 she was enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School’s preparatory program. Though she has sung for countless benefits, school, and community productions and numerous competitions, she says the Classical Singer High School Competition remains one of her more memorable and exciting experiences.
Abati competed not once but twice in the CS contest (2007 and 2009) and calls the competition “one of the most useful tools in helping me on the road to a promising future in the performing arts.” She believes the competition is the perfect environment for high school students to further their musical journey. She says the opportunity to compete with some of the nation’s best vocalists and to hear feedback was vital to her as a young singer. Abati was encouraged by the hospitality of the judges, accompanists, and volunteers. She was enriched by the masterclasses and lectures and appreciated the chance to speak with representatives from various colleges and music conservatories.
This past year, Abati was accepted with scholarship into the Eastman School of Music as an undergraduate majoring in vocal performance. She won first place in the Music Teachers National Association Eastern Regional Senior Voice Competition and at this writing is set to compete for the national title in March 2011.
Sean Plumb
Art history or political science? That’s what Sean Plumb was considering as a career until the Classical Singer High School Competition. Sean was a sophomore at Loyola High School in Los Angeles at the time and, though he had been around opera singers most of his life, he never imagined himself as a professional singer or as someone cut out for the challenge of the professional world of opera.
Then a teacher encouraged him to enter the CS competition. After success in the preliminary rounds, he landed in the final round of the competition in 2009 in Chicago and won first place. He was struck by the attention he received from numerous colleges and conservatories around the country.
Winning suddenly moved music to the forefront of his future plans, but where would he spend his college years? During the competition, Plumb spent a lot of time talking about possible colleges with professors from various universities. He also received scholarship offers, which ultimately helped him make his choice. He is now a first-year student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
“The performance opportunities are fantastic and the coaches, directors, conductors, and my teacher have helped me so much,” Plumb says of Curtis. “I know without doubt that I would not be here had it not been for the Classical Singer Competition.” He is in good company. Also at Curtis is Kirsten MacKinnon, Classical Singer’s 2008 High School Competition winner.
Jessica Bianco
Jessica Bianco might not have made it to the finals or been offered scholarships as a result of the 2007 Classical Singer Competition, but she describes her experience as “eye opening.” She had some experience singing in high school both as part of a choir and as a soloist, but she was shocked to find the intense competition that existed from her peers.
“It seemed the other students in the competition not only were on the same page as I was, but also surpassed me,” Bianco remembers. “They knew what to wear, had the showy arias, and were already focused on becoming opera stars.”
Bianco says the competition challenged her in many ways. She forgot a few words on one of her pieces and says the feedback she received from the judges was “a long way off from the sugary compliments I was used to hearing.” She says that the straightforward and honest feedback, as well as working out the nerves in the competition setting, prepared her for her college auditions and gave her a taste of the academic singing world.
Now completing her third year at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. as a vocal performance major, Bianco says her vocal progress is steady. In March of this year, she entered her first NATS Competition and sang her junior recital. Her passion for the arts extends beyond her personal growth as a professional artist. Concerned about the dwindling funding for arts education, Bianco is hoping to work with or build her own nonprofit organization which would provide more musical opportunities for children. This summer, she is planning to intern with the Miami Music Project, an organization that makes performing arts available to underserved children.
Jennifer Soloway
As a result of her performance in the 2008 Classical Singer High School Competition, Jennifer Soloway was offered a full scholarship to Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, but the desire to go to a college farther away from her Atlanta-area home outweighed the opportunity at Shorter. She landed in Oklahoma at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University where she is in her second semester as a vocal performance major. Her participation in the Classical Singer High School Competition also earned her a scholarship to OCU.
Soloway currently studies with Frank Ragsdale and says much of her vocal work so far has focused on getting back to basics—smoothing out her line and working on her onset so that she can sing more coloratura repertoire in the future. During her freshman year, she was cast in two productions: the musical Smile last fall and I pagliacci this winter. Soloway says she is loving her experience at OCU with its wonderful music program and exciting opportunities, including a masterclass with OCU alumna Kristin Chenoweth.
Even as she looks for more performance opportunities, Soloway has her sights set on studying voice in Europe someday. Her long-range plans are to get into the management end of the music business and possibly start her own local opera company which would specialize in bringing opera into the public schools in order to foster an appreciation for classical music at a young age.
Four singers with different voices, experiences, and various goals and hopes for the future. For some, the Classical Singer High School Competition proved to be a life-changing event. All were both encouraged and challenged by their experience. For more information on the high school or university competition, or to register for next year’s preliminary round, go to www.classicalsinger.com/convention/competition/.
