Multiple Hope students earned honors during the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Great Lakes Regional Competition, held at YoungstownStateUniversity in Ohio on Saturday, March 7.
Jared Graybiel, a junior from Lebanon, Ind., took first place in the College Musical Theatre Division. Ross Green, a junior from Plainwell, took first place in the Third-Year College Men Division. Sarah Ashcroft, a sophomore from Holland, took third place in the Second-Year College Women Division. Briana Sosenheimer, a junior from Fort Wayne, Ind., received honorable mention in the Third-Year College Women Division.
Graybiel also received the "Most Promising Musical Theater Performer" award through a vote of the teachers who were present. The special awards were presented in conjunction with a concert in which all the first-place winners performed at the conclusion of the competition.
In addition, Sosenheimer has recently been named a finalist in the Opera Grand Rapids Collegiate Competition, the finals for which will be held on Sunday, March 29, at Aquinas College.
The regional NATS competition included singers from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Ontario, Canada. Hope had students entered in five of the event's 16 categories, having qualified because of their performance in the NATS Michigan State Chapter Auditions in November.
Ashcroft, Graybiel and Green study with Linda LeFever Dykstra, associate professor of music. Sosenheimer studies with Peg Kennedy-Dygas, professor of music.