Students of the Sarah Folsom Studio at CMA continue to make waves in the community. Hannah Leonard and Kate Carovillano performed in the OMEA Solo and Ensemble Competition in January. Both students were given a rating of 1 which indicates “an outstanding performance with very few technical errors and exemplifying a truly musical expression.”

Hanna Leonard performed, “The Green Dog,” by Herbert Kingsley from Class A and received a 1 rating. Kate Carovillano performed, “Wayfaring Stranger,” arr. by John Jacob Niles.

Both Kate and Hanna spent several weeks in their lessons working on these challenging pieces. They combined their work with Sarah in their voice lessons with practice time outside of lessons and rehearsing with their accompanists to feel fully prepared.

Kate had only been taking voice lessons for about a month before the competition and did fantastic work to achieve consistent breath support and legato in her slow, long-phrased folk song. She worked with Sarah through the inherent challenges of singing a piece with multiple verses set to the same music, and explored how she could express each verse of text in a different mood to keep the piece interesting. This was Kate’s first time participating in the competition.

For a song less than 2 minutes long, “The Green Dog” presents many technical challenges. Hanna worked for several weeks to achieve consistency of vibrato, adequate space and support for high, climactic pitches, and clear diction in this fast-paced song. Hanna competed successfully in the competition last year, but this was her first attempt at singing a piece from Class A (most challenging).

I’m so proud of both students for challenging themselves by participating. In spite of the tough pieces they chose, the usual nerves that accompany performing, and one of them struggling with cold symptoms the week of the competition, all their hard work totally paid off!