<Requires careful preparation and peiformance Singi,ng competition encourages high standards The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) includes three Harding faculty members whose students are able to participate in state and regional competitions. Dr. Arthur Shearin, Neva White and Laura Eads support the purpose of NATS - to encourage high standards of vocal art and ethical principles in the teaching of singing. Students attending the competition spend weeks in advance preparing their music. Carrie Owen, a junior from Paducah, Ky., said, "We choose our repertiore very carefully and work on it as much as we can. The pieces are never perfect, but I learned so much from the experience." At each NATS competition, a nationally known singer is asked to come and perform for the students. One night the performer gives a concert of his or her repertoire and the next day he or she teaches a master class. Sandi Wright, a junior from Searcy, said," It is good to be at NATS in an environment where we can see professional performers on a personal level. You get to ask questions freely and get answers from someone who knows what is going on." Shearin, who holds office in the organization on the state and regional level, said Harding takes six or eight students to the regional competition and between 10 and 20 to the state NATS competition each year. "Fewer students participate in the regional competition in November [which includes schools from Arkansas, Mississippi and Lousiana] because of the distance to travel," Shearin said. Stacey Randolph and JeffShepherd have found the performance before the adjudicators to be more difficult than the idea of competition with other students. "The hardest thing for me when singing before the judges is that you are so close [to them]," Shepherd said. "You have to sing to yourself and not worry about [them]. You know they are very talented and you feel very inadequate, but you also know that they were once in your place." Students prepare three pieces, one of which they are sure to sing. The judges select one of the other two. "My freshman year," Randolph said, "I had prepared one ofmy songs very well, worked on another a little and had hardly even read through the last one. I went into the competition with my fingers crossed that theywouldn't choose the one I didn't know." Fortunately, the piece that Randolph had prepared well was chosen and she advanced to the semi-finals. Competitions are segmented into categories by male, female, college classification, high school and adult, with four winners selected from each. "NATS gives us an opportunity to grow and to set high standards for ourselves and others whom we meet in the professional world," Shearin said. - Hallie Bell Kappa Pi. First row: Jenni Strunk, Kevin Crumley, Vanessa Bearden, Cara Walker. Second row: John Keller (faculty sponsor), Shannan Berryhill, Erin Moore, Vanessa Crumley, Bret Jones, Aaron Gillihan. Photo by Aaron Gillihan. National Association ofTeachers ofSinging. First row: Carrie Owen, Sandi Wright, Carmen Greer. S econdRow: RochelleRose, Stacey Randolph, Matt Roberson, J eff Shepherd. Photo by Aaron Gill ihan. 194 Kappa Pi and NATS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==