It's moments like these that make me insanely proud as a teacher and mentor. I love seeing young students grow and expand their skills. I also love it when students who have worked so hard get to see the fruits of their labors. These three young ladies stepped up in the past year. Here are their stories.
Cerys Brook-Rickard performed as part of the CSMTA (Colorado State Music Teachers Association) Rising Stars Competition. She sang as part of the voice category in the Upper Elementary Age Group (Ages 9-11), performing "Summertime" by Gershwin and "Maybe" from the musical Annie. Cerys finished 1st in her category and took home a trophy! If you'd like to see the results from the 2021 Rising Stars Festival, check out the link below!
Stevanna Masias is a sophomore at Arvada West High School. She competed in the Colorado-Wyoming District Competition of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). Stevanna sang as part of the Musical Theatre Voice Competition within the 10th Grade Treble Voice Category. She performed "Heaven Help My Heart" from the musicale Chess, "Why don't you do right" from the musical film Stagedoor Canteen (although some of you might remember it from Who framed Roger Rabbit?), and lastly, "Burn" from the musical Hamilton. There were many singers in the competition, over 40 singers from around Colorado and Wyoming. Adjudicators narrowed down the field to a small group of finalists after listening to all three selections and judging based on a rubric set by NATS. In the final round, judges gave a ranking score based on just one musical selection. I'm proud to say that Stevanna's performance of "Burn" from Hamilton earned her first place in the Musicale Theatre category.
Amisha Gupta started studying with Joshua Zabatta in the summer of 2020. She always showed herself to be very bright, talented, and hard-working. Constantly pushing forward, Amisha competed in and won multiple competitions in 2021. Singing the aria "Ch'io mai vi possa" from the Handel opera Siroe, Amisha won the CSMTA 2021 Concerto Competition in the voice category. A month later, Amisha also won the classical voice category for sophomore treble voices at the Colorado-Wyoming NATS competition. In that competition, she sang the Handel aria in addition to "Widmung" by Schumann and "Sure on this Shining Night" by Samuel Barber. Last but not least, Amisha Gupta also participated in the CSMTA Rising Stars Festival. In the Lower Senior Division of the voice category, she won 1st prize.
I'm insanely proud of these students and their hard work. I'm thankful to them for letting me help mold and guide them on their musical journeys.