Dickinson College Students Advance to Nationals in Singing Competition

Front row, from left: Josh Bennett ’20, Chelsea-Mia Pierre ’18 and Cailin Smith ’18. Second row, from left: Sarah Benamati ’19, Asha Tran ’20 Lillian Carver ‘21 and Abby Duell ’20.

Front row, from left: Josh Bennett ’20, Chelsea-Mia Pierre ’18 and Cailin Smith ’18. Second row, from left: Sarah Benamati ’18, Asha Tran ’20 Lillian Carver ’21 and Abby Duell ’20.

Four advance to semifinals and three to nationals

NATS Students

Front row, from left: Josh Bennett ’20, Chelsea-Mia Pierre ’18 and Cailin Smith ’18. Second row, from left: Sarah Benamati ’18, Asha Tran ’20 Lillian Carver ’21 and Abby Duell ’20.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seven voice students recently represented Dickinson and the Department of Music at the Eastern Regional National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Conference and Competition in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Four advanced to the semifinal rounds for the eastern region, which brought together student singers from across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, New York and Canada, and three are eligible to compete at the national level.

Music majors Abby Duell ’20, Asha Tran ’20 and Chelsea-Mia Pierre ’18 competed in the event. Also competing were Sarah Benamati ’18 and Josh Bennett ’20, both double majors in theatre arts and music, as well as Lillian Carver ’21 (undeclared) and Cailin Smith ’18 (music, anthropology). Smith, Pierre, Duell and Carver each advanced to the semifinal rounds in the regional audition. 

Competing in the senior women’s classical category, Smith placed fourth regionally and Pierre placed fifth; Pierre also was a top-five finalist in the senior women's musical theatre category. Carver earned third place in the eastern region for non-senior women's musical theatre.

Based on these scores, Smith, Pierre and Carver are eligible to audition, via YouTube video, before a panel of national judges. The top 14 singers in each category will be invited to the live national semifinals, held during the NATS national conference in Las Vegas, June 22-26.

TAKE THE NEXT STEPS

Published March 22, 2018