While recent alumnae Jessica Rivera and Jessica Tivens prepared and performed their roles in the New West Symphony’s recent production of Bizet’s Carmen, current members of Seaver College’s Flora Thornton Opera Program were earning awards and accolades for their work which they hope will soon place them on the path to professional opera success, like their Pepperdine predecessors, Rivera and Tivens. Senior soprano Christin Wismann was awarded $1,000 for continued vocal study by the Village Voices Chorale. Through an audition process, the Conejo Valley-based chorale singles out promising local singers each year for encouragement. Junior mezzo-soprano, Allison Campagna and sophomore mezzo-soprano Davia Bandy received similar awards from the group in 2004.
Senior soprano Kelsie Villahermosa was one of three top winners in the recent vocal competition sponsored by the Pasadena Fine Arts Club. She will receive a $1,000 award and will be featured in an award winners’ concert sponsored by the organization in June. Earlier this year, Kelsie was one of six national finalists in the National Opera Association vocal competition in New York.
Senior Margaret Lane and sophomore LaShawna Ngadiuba have been accepted into prestigious summer programs in Austria. Margaret will be studying in Salzburg at the University of Miami’s Salzburg Summer Program, while LaShawna will hone her skills at the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz. Both will be presented in end-of-the-season concerts in August.
Other recent graduates are continuing or have recently completed study at some of the nation’s premier graduate schools and conservatories. These include bass-baritone Eric Downs who is at the Yale Graduate Opera Program; baritone Daniel Peretto at Northwestern; baritone Brian Speck at Rice; mezzo-soprano Evelyn Trester at Peabody Institute; and mezzo-soprano Angela Rasmussen Price at USC.
04-21-2005