10/20/2006

Contact: K.E. Schwab -- 724-738-2199; e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu

ANNUAL CHAD WILLIAMSON COMPETITION SET FOR OCT. 28 IN SWOPE RECITAL HALL

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – A dozen Slippery Rock University voice majors will vie for the Chad Williamson Memorial Scholarship in competition set for 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in Swope Recital Hall. This is the 14th such competition.

The singers, who will offer both a classical selection and a popular selection, will compete for the scholarship which honors the late Slippery Rock High School student who had planned to attend SRU but died in a traffic accident prior to his start.

This year’s competition will be judged by Dr. Anne Hagan Bentz, soprano and assistant professor of voice at Westminster College, where she teaches voice, diction classes, vocal pedagogy, vocal and opera literature and directs opera productions. Bentz maintains an active career as recitalist both in Pennsylvania and in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. A native of Silver Spring, Md., she graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in music education with an emphasis in voice. She is a recipient of a Rotary fellowship which enabled her to attend the Hochschule für Musik and Theater in Hannover, Germany, from which she holds a degree in vocal performance. She also attended the Goethe Institute for the study of the German language in Germany, Dante Alighieri Institute for the study of Italian in Florence, Italy, the Vienna International Music Center in Vienna, Austria, and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

During the summer of 2000, Bentz also taught German diction at the Vocal Arts International Summer Institute in Washington, D.C. In 2000, she received a Governor’s Citation for outstanding vocal performance from the Maryland State Arts Council, and she has taught for two years as visiting professor of voice at the University of Nebraska in Omaha.

The competition, one of the most popular in the music department, provides SRU music majors the opportunity to demonstrate their vocal talent and allows the local community to both see and hear the performing arts talent of university voice students.

Created by Mr. Williamson’s family, including his mother Mrs. Karen Hickok, an SRU graduate and former employee, helps SRU’s music department attract talented vocal performers.

Competitors will be:

Holly Huff of Greenville

Christina Howell of Erie

Janelle Chambers of Kossuth

John Bergh of Sewickley

Nicholas Kochanov of North Huntingdon

Lauren Paterra of Bentleyville

Bethany Nagy and Ashleigh Weimer, both of Connellsville

Ryan Griffin of Pittsburgh

Michael Zeiler of Natrona Heights

Michael Desnoyers of Allegeny N.Y.

Deanna Wolfgong of Franklin