Two local students win singing awards
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on May 16, 2012 1:46 PM
Two Goldsboro vocalists attending University of North Carolina School of the Arts received high marks in the Regional National Association of Teachers of Singing auditions, held recently in Maryland.
Madeline Edwards, a high school junior, placed first in her category, advanced junior-senior high school women in the district auditions, and won the award for the best female high school singer.
At the regional auditions, she again placed first in this category and won a John Stoudenmire High School Excellence Award for best female singer. According to school officials, this award included singers in both classical and musical theater categories.
Alden Pridgen, a vocal performance major at the college, placed second in her category, college sophomore women, in the district auditions, then placed third in that category at the regional event.
In order to advance to the regional level, singers had to score a minimum of 25 points out of a possible 30 for a "superior" ranking in their district. Both Miss Pridgen and Miss Ed-wards competed against 325 singers from the high school, college and graduate or continuing education levels from North and South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.
They also both attended Eastern Wayne High School. Miss Pridgen graduated from there in 2009 and attended Meredith College for two years before transferring to School of the Arts. Miss Edwards was a student at Eastern Wayne prior to being accepted to the School of the Arts this year to complete her high school studies.