Missouri State students recently participated in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Missouri District, bi-annual auditions at William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo. MSU’s own Dr. Carol Chapman is the District Governor and organized the entire event. The auditions included over 200 singers from universities across Missouri and featured a musical theatre division, classical divisions for each year in school, including advanced levels for graduate students, and an open division for non-traditional students.

“Students hone their performances skills, support their colleagues, meet new friends, hear new repertoire, and are generally inspired by the music making going on all around them for a two-day event,” explains MSU Voice Coordinator Dr. Chris Thompson. “All teachers participate as judges, making constructive/positive comments that, hopefully, inspire thought and change. All singers/pianists/teachers well represented the spirit of MSU and sang their hearts out.”

The District NATS Audition finalists for Fall 2012 are listed below:

Finalist

3rd Place Freshman Women Elaina Bottles (St. Pierre)
2nd Place Sophomore Women Aubrey Smith (Chapman)
Honorable Mention Sophomore Men Jared Swope (Thompson)
3rd Place Junior Men Tyler Schlesselman (Thompson)
3rd Place Senior Men Ryan Starks (Owens)
2nd Place Advanced Alyssa Phinney (Chapman)
3rd Place Advanced Martin Wilson (Thompson)
Honorable Mention Advanced Traci Pritchard (Thompson)
Honorable Mention MT Lower Division Men Mitch Brauer
2nd Place MT Upper Division Men Tyler Whiteman (Thompson)
1st Place MT Advanced Men Martin Wilson (Thompson)

Semi-finalist

Freshman Women Laura Heath (Thompson)
Sophomore Women Brittany Griffin (Wilcox-Daehn)
Sophomore Men Timothy Chatman (St. Pierre), Reid Van Engen (Thompson)
Junior Women Emily Teson (Taylor)
Senior Women Amber Johnson (Chapman)

Participants

Junior Men Gavin Juckette (Patterson)
Senior Women Amelia Lawson (St. Pierre)
Senior Men David Brockway (St. Pierre)
Advanced Kristen Walker (Thompson)
MT Upper Division Men Gavin Juckette (Patterson), Frankie Shin (Patterson), Ryan Starks (Owens)
MT Upper Division Women Samantha Disney (Patterson), Elizabeth Klemm (Patterson), Ellen Oswald (Patterson), Elise Watson (Chapman)

Pianist

Linda Dunn, Alex Huff, Heather Luellen, Darlene Matrone, Carol Wilson

Congratulations to all!