Centenary music students excel at annual competition
SHREVEPORT, LA — Participating in the annual National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) southern regional competition is a rite of passage for many students at Centenary’s Hurley School of Music, giving them a chance to perform and be judged against peers from over 20 colleges and universities from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Five Centenary students participated in this fall’s competition that took place in an entirely virtual format. Two students, Adam Born and Carson Alvarez, took home awards.
The new virtual approach necessitated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic required students to submit videos of aria and song submissions to competition judges, who then reviewed the videos and submitted recommendations for semi-finalists and finalists in a variety of musical categories.
Born, a native of Shreveport and a graduate of Caddo Magnet High School, won second place in the Lower College Musical Theater Tenor, Baritone, Bass category. Alvarez, a Bossier City native and Airline High School graduate, placed fifth in Sophomore Tenor, Baritone, Bass. Both students train under Dr. Janani Sridhar, visiting assistant professor of music at Centenary’s Hurley School.
“Hurley has enjoyed a long history of great success with the competitions that NATS holds each year,” said Dr. Cory Wikan, acting dean of the Hurley School of Music. “We are delighted that Adam and Carson have admirably exhibited the immense level of talent at Hurley, as well as the tremendous mentorship of Dr. Sridhar. On behalf of Hurley and Centenary, I am thrilled to congratulate all of our student competitors on their hard work and exciting artistic achievements.”
Other Centenary competitors at NATS this year were Devin Bureau of Baton Rouge and Keegan Tunstall of Shreveport, who study voice under Hurley faculty member Adam Philley, and Rachel Gordon, of Richardson, Texas, who studies under Sridhar.