Emily Holsclaw knows how to juggle.
She's a full-time student, an athlete and a singer, and Holsclaw, a senior majoring in vocal music education, said this year was difficult.
"To be involved, especially during the season, is absolutely nuts," she said. "I had to work on time management and I don't remember really having a free hour in the day."
She said that the athletic and music departments were very cooperative and a lot of compromising took place.
"Sometimes I missed a part of singing practice or part of a game," she said.
Holsclaw, along with several other UT students, won a regional singing competition on March 1.
The other singers who attended the Great Lakes Regional Auditions of the National Associations of Teachers of Singing [NATS] included Lorna Lynn Parks, Janet Brehm Taylor, Craig Black and Kira Sullivan.
The students study and practice under Barbara Rondelli Perry, a music professor. The group is vocally coached by Robert Ballinger, a lecturer in music who also serves as their accompanist.
The three winners are sopranos, study opera and plan to pursue careers in opera performance, Holsclaw said.
The contest, held at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., had singers from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Ontario, Canada, Rondelli Perry said.
There were 10 colleges and universities participating, including the University of Michigan, the University of Akron, Ohio State University and Indiana University, she said.
Holsclaw, a UT volleyball player, said there are at least 10 categories in the competition and in each category, there were 10-20 singers.
Holsclaw said they practiced with Ballinger and Rondelli Perry from one to three hours every day.
"They really helped coach us and prepare us," Holsclaw said. "We had had separate rehearsals to prepare [for the competition]."
Rondelli Perry said one of the challenges in preparing for the competition was choosing the proper music for each singer.
"A student's voice is like a finger print," Rondelli Perry said. "It's so different [from] any other person's voice."
Rondelli Perry said she helped fit the voice of each student to an appropriate song or aria.
"You have to know, as an instructor, [their] voice very well," she said. "[The song] has to be very suited to their voice and know that they'll be able to manage very well with practice."
One of the challenges was that "you didn't get to rehearse or perform in the hall [in which] you were going to sing," she said, "So you didn't really know the acoustics."
There were specific requirements for each category, Holsclaw said.
For example, in Holsclaw's category, she had to sing one aria, an opera-solo piece from an opera; an oratorio, a solo piece from a larger work that's not an opera; one art song that was not in English; and a 20th-century piece.
Only three people from each category won, and occasionally there was an honorable mention, according to Rondelli Perry.
The first-prize winners won $100 and the second and third won $80-90, depending on the category.
"It's not a whole bunch of money, but the fact of getting a prize is very prestigious," Rondelli Perry said.
UT singers have won in this competition previously, she said.
"In years past, I had a number of students that have gone into the competition and won the top three prizes," she said.
Holsclaw said she was excited about the competition and she didn't expect to win.
"We all kind of went in and did our best and did it for the experience," she said. "We were all really thrilled."
"I really enjoy working with the students and they all said they had a wonderful time going there and [Ballinger and I] did too," Rondelli Perry said. "We had wonderful memories."
Rondelli Perry said the trip was funded by the Richard R. and Barbara R. Perry Program Excellence Fund, her and her husband's endowment.
Holsclaw won second place in the senior college women's category. Parks was third in the advanced men and women ages 22-25 category. Taylor won third in the advanced men and women 26 and older category.
This Saturday, a NATS competition for the state of Ohio will be held at Bowling Green State University.
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