UPEI Music presents its competition finals on January 23
The annual UPEI music department performance competition finals concert will be held on Thursday, January 23 at UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall at 7:30 pm.
The students chosen from the preliminary round include: Rebecca Apps, third-year voice major, performing music by Weinzweig, Floyd, and Somers; Jillian Clow, third-year voice major, performing music by Samuel Barber; Nadine Haddad, fourth-year voice major, performing cabaret songs by William Bolcom; Evan Hammell, third-year trombone major, performing a sonatina by Halsey Stevens; Melissa MacKenzie, second-year voice major, performing works by Adam Guettel and Leonard Bernstein; and, Lucas MacPhail, third-year saxophone major, performing Wings by Joan Tower.
Apps, originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, is a vocal performance major under the direction of Sung Ha Shin-Bouey. She is a graduate of the music theatre-performance program at St. Lawrence College in Brockville, Ontario. She is a member of the UPEI Concert Choir, as well as the UPEI Chamber Ensemble. She was a featured soloist in the UPEI Concert Choir's rendition of Bach's Christmas Oratorio this past year. In 2013, Apps represented PEI in the CFMTA Voice Competition in Halifax, has been a participant of the Kiwanis Music Festival for several years, and was a finalist in the UPEI Performance Competition in 2013.
Clow is a mezzo-soprano and was a cast member in the Confederation Centre of the Arts Young Company production of Les Feux Follets in 2012. She has also performed with the UPEI Concert Choir as a featured soloist in works such as Vivaldi's Gloria and Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Under the direction of Sung Ha Shin Bouey, Jillian hopes to be accepted into the University of Toronto following her graduation in 2015 to earn a master of music in opera.
Haddad is in her final year and is very fortunate to have studied the past four years under the direction of Sung Ha Shin-Bouey. She has also participated in the Kiwanis Music Festival and placed third at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) in 2012 at the University of Moncton. In 2013, she was also a finalist in the Music Performance Competition. This year, Haddad is excited to be performing some of her favorite cabaret songs.
Hammell is a bass trombone major under the direction of Dr. Gregory Irvine, with previous instruction from Bob Nicholson and Steve Giddings. A native of Charlottetown, Hammell is currently the bass trombonist for the UPEI Wind Symphony, the UPEI Jazz Ensemble, the UPEI Brass Quintet, and the Prince Edward Island Regiment Band, and is also a member of the UPEI Percussion Ensemble and UPEI Concert Choir. After graduating from UPEI, he intends to pursue graduate studies in composing and arranging.
Second-year voice major MacKenzie is currently studying vocal performance under the direction of Sung Ha Shin-Bouey, piano with Dr. Frances Gray, and is pursuing a theatre studies minor at UPEI. Recent theatre work includes Good Golly Miss Molly (Molly/Alex, Feast Dinner Theatres, Summer 2013) and Beauty and the Beast (Belle, Fandango Musical Players, Christmas 2012). Melissa was the recipient of the 2013 Junior Rose Bowl from the Queens County Music Festival, as well as the Indian River Performance Award (2013) and various provincial music festival titles in voice, musical theatre, and piano throughout the years.
MacPhail, a native of Warren Grove, PEI, is studying saxophone performance with Kevin MacLean. He is currently the principal alto saxophonist for the UPEI Wind Symphony and a member of the UPEI Jazz Ensemble. This past summer he competed at the FCMF National Competition at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario.
Judges for this year's competition are well-known PEI educators and musicians: Leo Marchildon, Jennifer Gillis, Kirk White, Alexandra Gallant, and Doug Millington.
Tickets are $15 adults, $10 for students and seniors, and are available at the door, or in advance by calling 566-0507 or by emailing music@upei.ca
