DSU vocal standout wins MTNA regional competition Posted on 1/23/2012
Leah Walters, senior vocal performance major at Dickinson State University, recently won the West Central Regional Music Teachers National Association Voice Competition. Walters now advances to the national level and will compete at the National MTNA Competition.
Founded in 1876, Music Teachers National Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of 22,000 independent and collegiate music teachers who are committed to advancing the value of music study, music making to society and to supporting the professionalism of music teachers.
Walters, the daughter of Daniel and Brenda Walters, Gladstone, N.D., earned the opportunity to compete at the national level after winning the West Central Division of the MTNA Young Artist Voice Competition; where she competed against state vocal winners from South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri.
Walters has been studying voice for nine years and is currently a student of Dr. Bruce Southard, director of choral activities at DSU and Dr. Virginia Sublett of North Dakota State University. With their collaborate instruction, Walters received the encouragement award during the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in 2010 and 2011 and received a scholarship to attend the 2011 Miami Frost School of Music summer music program in Salzburg, Austria.
The National MTNA Competition will be held in New York in March 2012 during the MTNA National Conference. The national winner will receive a cash prize and will perform in a Winners Concert during the conference.
