THUNDER BAY – Lakehead University student, Jessica Hayes, from Thunder Bay won in her division at the second round of the 2022 Crescendo International Music Competition which was held at Carnegie Hall in New York.
“It was incredible. Even just walking in was amazing because there were all these posters of the great opera singers that have been there before, like Maria Callas,” said Hayes.
“And it was just so incredible because she’s one of my favourites and she’s one of the biggest inspirations for this piece that I listened to. So I was like oh my God. I got to sing this piece here and she sang here before too.”
The competition took place from Feb. 12 to 14, with Hayes competing on the very last day. She competed against 35 other vocalists, where she won first place in her division, a win that filled her family with joy.
“They’ve been so supportive. My mom went down with me and she was a mess when I told her, and my dad was super proud. I’ve got a million messages from my family. My grandma just went off about it,” said Hayes.
“I think she just pulled out her address book and called everyone, including the dentist. So yeah, they’ve been amazing.”
Along with Hayes winning in her division, Lakehead also had another student win in the competition, Evelyn Davenport won in the piano category.
With this win, Hayes and Davenport, have been given the chance to do a student exchange program in Italy, where they will get the chance to learn from renowned Italian musicians.
