UK Voices Dominate at NATS Regional

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 1, 2015) — Many University of Kentucky School of Music students took home honors, including wins in 10 categories, at the 2015 Mid-South Region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Inc. (NATS) competition held April 17-18, at UK. The event featured 261 vocalists from 30 schools, universities and private studios in Kentucky and Tennessee competing.

The 10 UK Opera Theatre students who took first place in their divisions at the NATS competition are:

· vocal performance and music education sophomore Willnard Anderson, from Florissant, Missouri, who won the Sophomore Men Division;

· doctoral candidate Shareese Arnold, from Lexington, who won the Post Advanced Division;

· vocal performance senior Gabrielle Baker, from Lexington, who won the Advanced Women Division;

· vocal performance freshman Clark Davis, from Lexington, who won the Freshman Women Division;

· vocal performance and music education freshman Blake Denson, from Paducah, Kentucky, who won the Freshman Men Division;

· graduate student Brittany Jones, from Louisville, Kentucky, who won the Adult Intermediate Division;

· graduate student Christopher Kenney, from Fargo, North Dakota, who won the Advanced Men Division;

· vocal performance senior Laura Salyer, from Lexington, who won the Senior Women Division;

· vocal performance junior Mary Catherine Wright, from Lexington, who won the Junior Women Division; and

· music education sophomore Joseph Wrightson, from Lexington, who won the Music Theater Underclass Division.

Anderson, Barker, Davis and Wright study voice under Everett McCorvey, director of UK Opera Theatre and the OperaLex Endowed Chair in Opera Studies. Kenney studies under Endowed Chair, Professor of Voice Cynthia Lawrence. Arnold studies under Angelique Clay, associate professor of voice. Denson and Wrightson study under Dennis Bender, associate professor of voice. Jones studies under Noemi Lugo, professor of voice.

In addition to the 10 wins, UK opera students took home 14 second place and third place finishes at the NATS Mid-South Region. Those students and honors are:

· Jonathan Adams, third place in the Junior Men Division;

· Jenna Day, third place in the Music Theater Underclass Division; 

· Alyssa Marie Detterich, third place in the Junior Women Division; 

· Liz Frodge, second place in the Junior Women Division; 

· Wesley Hammond, third place in the Music Theater Upperclass Division;

· Caitlyn Howard, second place in the Advanced Women Division;

· Henry Huhtulag, third place in the Freshman Men Division; 

· Thabang Masango, second place in the Adult Intermediate Division;

· Steven  Olson, third place in the Men Sophomore Division;

· Michael Pandolfo, second place in the Freshman Men Division;

· Maria Daniela Ruiz, third place in the Freshman Women Division; 

· Hunter Shaner, second place in the Men Sophomore Division;

· Maggie Smith, second place in the Senior Women Division; and  

· Mary Catherine Wright, second place in the Music Theater Upperclass Division.

Accompanying UK's finalists at the competition were Suna Avci-Gunther, coach at the Academy for Creative Excellence and assistant music director of Schmidt Opera Outreach Program; William Cooper, UK alumna Maris Deddens; Maureen Howell; Cliff Jackson; Tedrin Blair Lindsay, lecturer and vocal coach; doctoral candidate Yuri Kim; doctoral candidate Lucia Marin; Nan McSwain, lecturer and vocal coach; Lynn Vera; and music education sophomore Wurile Wang.

NATS encourages the highest standards of the vocal art and of ethical principles in the teaching of singing and promotes vocal education and research at all levels, both for the enrichment of the general public and for the professional advancement of the talented. Founded in 1944, NATS is the largest association of teachers of singing in the world and boasts more than 6,500 members in the United States, Canada and more than 25 other countries around the world.

The UK School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts has achieved awards and national and international recognition for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as for music education, composition, theory and music history.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu