Sunday, October 14, 2012

Leah Hawkins, Antonio Chase & Aleah Prentice of Morgan State University Sweep Vocal Competition of Opera Guild of Northern Virginia

Leah U. Hawkins, Mezzo-soprano

Antonio Chase, tenor

Aleah A. Prentice, soprano

Dr. Eric Conway of Morgan State University in Baltimore writes:

Hello everyone,

Allow me to share some more great news about our students in the Fine and Performing Arts Department.

Over this past Homecoming Weekend, our students participated in a vocal competition in Arlington, Virginia sponsored by the Opera Guild of Northern Virginia.   Our students swept all of the top prizes.  The winners were:

Leah Hawkins, Mezzo-soprano -1st Prize $400 - Student of Ms. Castrello
Antonio Chase, Tenor - 2nd Prize $300 - Student of Mr. Stringer
Aleah Prentice, Soprano - 3rd Prize $200 - Student of Dr. Chauvin

Congratulations go out to all our students and their teachers who participated.  You make us all very proud!

Mistress of Ceremony
Ms Jummy Olabanji
ABC7/WJLA-TV and News Channel 8

Honorary Chair
Ms Sheila C. Johnson, CEO
Salamander Hotels & Resorts

(Arlington, Virginia) On Saturday, October 13, 2012, The Millennium-Seat Pleasant Club of the National Capital Area (MSPNCA) of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Incorporated (NANBPWC) and the Opera Guild of Northern Virginia (OGNV) will sponsor “The 2012 Vocal Arts Competition for Emerging Artists” in Honor of Dr. Mattiwilda Dobbs, an African-American soprano and one of the first Black singers to enjoy a major international classical career in opera. This event will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Walker Chapel United Methodist Church, 4102 North Glebe Road, Arlington, Virginia 22207.

For almost 77 years, the NANBPWC has advanced the interests of business and professional women of color. Vocal arts is one of the cultural areas that our Association promotes in an effort to provide experience and exposure to young adults striving to pursue a classical vocal arts career. In 1982, the Association introduced its signature program formerly known as the “Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition.” In 2001, the Association changed the competition name, with the endorsement and consent of Leontyne Price, to the “Vocal Arts Competition for Emerging Artists.” This competition seeks to provide a competitive arena where young talented and gifted vocal classical performing Black artists can demonstrate their artistic abilities. The contestants must be between the ages of 18-25 and prepared to perform one selection in each of the following categories: ARIAS – Opera, Cantata, Mass Requiem, Oratorio; ART SONGS – German Lied, French Art Songs; and either a Negro Spiritual or Work by a Contemporary African American Composer.

The objectives of this event are threefold: (1) To assist these artists in fulfilling their career goals, objectives, and aspirations in classical vocal arts performance; (2) To continue the legacy of cultural enrichment established by NANBPWC; and (3) To promote the OGNV’s mission of raising and fostering the awareness of the classical arts in the Washington Metropolitan area, particularly in Northern Virginia.

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