Nov. 28, 2018
Northern Arizona University vocal students were recognized in the Arizona District of the National Association Teachers of Singing (NATS) on Nov. 16-18 and the Arizona District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions on Oct. 22.
The Valley of the Sun Chapter hosted this year’s NATS awards. The awards are broken into three categories: classical, musical theater and contemporary commercial. Within each category, the awards were separated by gender, age and length of study. This year, 19 NAU students received awards.
First place:
- Hanna Van Belle in the classical section of Lower College Women
- Abigail Bush in the classical section of Upper College Women
- Sague Molina in the classical section of Upper College Men
- Heather Lake in the classical section of Advanced College Women
- Ashley Martin-Casler in the classical section of Adult Avocational Women
- Eliza Faigel in the musical theater section of Lower College Women
- Desmond O’Connell in the Contemporary Commercial Adult Men category
Second place:
- O’Connell in the classical section of Lower College Men
- Jessie Kate Leventis in the classical section of Upper College Women
- Mary Kray in the classical section of Upper College Women
- CJ Case in the classical section of Upper College Men
- Thommy Long in the musical theater section of Lower Division College Men
Third place:
- Esther Evins in the classical section of Lower College Women
- Ye Lynn Han in the classical section of Upper College Men
Honorable mention:
- Allison Harmon in the classical section of Lower College Women
- Lizzy Aranda in the classical section of Lower College Women
- MacKenzie Nelson in the classical section of Lower College Women
- Deanna Alcala in the classical section of Upper College Women
- Kenadee Brown in the classical section of Upper College Women
- Lydia Bangura in the classical section of Upper College Women
- Van Belle in the musical theater section of Lower College Women
Besides taking home first place, Van Belle and Lake won monetary awards from independent organizations. Lake also won the Most Promising Singer award.
Undergrad students Lynn Han and Kray also participated in the Arizona District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where they competed against graduate students from other institutions. This was the first time in the competition that both pre-professional/early professional vocalists earned the Encouragement Award.