Eric Whitacre

There were SO many great alto entries, and what a joy to listen to them all sing their parts over and over again. (Alto is easily my favorite voice part). I narrowed it down to my favorite 12, then my favorite 6, then my favorite two… and that’s as far as I could get.

I suppose that what I was looking for above all – and this applies to all the voice parts – was not only a nice voice but a genuine sense of that most ephemeral quality, musicality. The two alto winners have completely different vocal styles (and yes, a healthy amount of vibrato), but man alive are they both musical.

So please say hello to our TWO alto scholarship winners, and congratulations to all of the altos who applied; it truly was an exceptional group of women.

Evangelyna Etienne, from Malden, Mass:

And Lauren Collis from Ontario, Canada: