By ERIN UPSHAW
Staff Writer

Music often plays an important role in the everyday life of students. Take, for example, the number of students plugged into their iPods or MP3 players.

However, for some students, music isn’t simply a hobby or something to occupy them as they walk between classes, but a passion that they want to focus their life and career on. Such is the case for four APSU music students Karen Crow, Sarah Jenkins, Nicole Paul and Jay Wilkinson.

In the case of Jenkins, music has always been a part of her life in many forms, from musical instruments to singing.

“I have been singing since a very young age. I began piano lessons at age six and participated in church and school choirs all throughout elementary and high school,” Jenkins said.

“I played the trumpet in elementary school. I studied commercial music and jazz music before being exposed to classical music.”

Crow, on the other hand, has been singing for the better part of her life but didn’t start a professional pursuit until reaching APSU.

“I’ve been singing as long as I can remember, but I didn’t start taking voice lessons until my freshman year in college,” Crow said.

Even with their various backgrounds, these four students all have something in common: being named semifinalists in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) meeting held Saturday, March 27, at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.

NATS, according to the foundation’s website, is “to generate assistance to aspiring and talented singers and teachers through the development and management of various endowment funds.”

Crow and Jenkins were semifinalists in the competition’s graduate category, which according to Jenkins is a very difficult category to place in.

“The category in which I competed is known for being quite competitive. I was pleased to have advanced to the semi-finals and appreciated the opportunity to get feed-back from three more judges,” Jenkins said.

Paul and Wilkinson were semifinalists in the competition’s junior and senior categories.

Although Wilkinson didn’t make it all the way to the finals, he was proud of his performance.

“I thought I sang very well, obviously it would’ve been nice to make it to the finals, but I am still quite happy about being a semi-finalist,” Wilkinson said.

A lot of preparation was required for the competition.

“I’ve been preparing probably since the beginning of January,” Crow said. “Preparing for this type of thing takes a lot more than one might think. Learning and memorizing the music is only half the battle. Getting to the point where you feel comfortable performing the music in front of a panel of judges takes just as much effort as learning the music itself.”

In Wilkinson’s case, it was less a case of learning the music as it was polishing the songs to make sure they were ready for the judges.

“Most of the songs I have known for over a year, but this semester I really worked hard at polishing them and getting them performance ready,” Wilkinson said.

The students that participated are working towards incorporating music in to their future careers and are using their placement at the NATS competition to further their ambitions.

“Eventually I hope to teach private voice lessons to young developing singers,” Crow said.

“I also enjoy teaching elementary or high school age as well. I really enjoy performing, so wherever I end up, I hope to be able to continue to perform as well.”