Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition draws 21 finalists to Singletary Center

If life is about doing what makes your heart sing, then a lot of living happened during Sunday’s Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition.

Twenty-one finalists, including some from Mexico, South Korea and South Africa, performed in the 11th annual competition at the University of Kentucky’s Singletary Center for the Arts. They vied for more than $500,000 in scholarships and prizes. A panel of five opera industry experts chose winners of several prizes, with the top two undergraduate and graduate vocalists receiving cash prizes and tuition waivers to attend UK.

Makeda Hampton of Huntsville, Ala., received the top graduate prize, which was $12,000 plus a tuition waiver and a graduate assistantship. Receiving the prize was the culmination of “a lot of hard work realized,” Hampton, 30, said.

“I’ve never first place in anything, so this is a really huge honor,” Hampton said. “Singing has always been a part of my life. I started classical music maybe about 10 years ago. It’s an evolving process for me. It takes me to a deeper place of being able to communicate with an audience and to communicate with myself.”

She said her goal in singing a selection from Rigoletto “was to communicate joy. I hope I did that today.”

The second-place graduate award of $8,000 plus tuiton waiver and graduate assistantship went to Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, who is originally from Zimbabwe.

Lydia Grace Graham, 17, of Danville took first place in the “incoming undergraduate” division for high school students. The prize is worth $6,000, but Graham will receive that money only if she decides to attend UK. She said she’s not sure if she will.

The selection she sang was La zingara (The Gypsy Girl) written by Gaetano Donizetti in the 1800s.

“It’s a really fun piece,” Graham said. “I get to really act in it. I don’t have to focus on my technique as much as a more classical or straightforward piece. It lets me relax, and it’s showy, I guess.”

Second place in the undergraduate division, a $4,000 prize plus tuition waiver, went to Hayden Smith of Louisville.

Singing before hundreds of people was a memorable experience for undergraduate finalist Sarah Sturgeon, 17, of Louisville.

“I’ve never performed on a stage this big, and just looking out at this big place and trying to let my voice fill the room, it was an amazing experience,” Sturgeon said.

Asked what it was like to control her voice to convey emotion, Sturgeon said: “I feel it literally move through my veins and all over my body. If you could see it, it’s like this shadow of me just goes outside my body and just delivers to the audience, and that’s why I love it so much.”

This story was originally published March 6, 2016 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition draws 21 finalists to Singletary Center."