By Bri Spencer / The Jambar
Two of Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music students, Erika Walker and Laura Bowden, earned top honors at regional competitions earlier this month.
Walker, a Master of Music in voice performance student, was awarded first place at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Great Lakes Regional Auditions on March 1. She competed in advanced adult treble non-traditional.
Walker qualified for the national competition, where she must turn in a video audition for the first round. If she passes the first round, she will move on to the in-person round in Philadelphia during the month of June.
Walker is a mezzo-soprano vocalist and enjoys singing opera. She also participates in choral singing. Walker said that she originally started as a math major and found her love of music later in her academic life.
“Most people do [music] in middle school and high school and fall in love with it there, but I fell in love with it in my 20s. So it’s been about 10 years since I started singing, in total,” Walker said.
Walker has balanced music as well as being a mother to her daughter. She said it was a struggle balancing these two aspects of her life.
“I realized that I wasn’t doing music for the first two years of her life, and that was something I needed,” Walker said. “As soon as I started singing again, I felt a whole new revitalization of, ‘I am still the same person I was before, and a mom.’ I went back to music and I feel it’s a huge part of me as a person.”
Walker said she is interested in joining the Pittsburgh Opera House and enjoys classical and symphonic metal music.
Bowden, junior in music performance, was one of three students selected to advance to the final round of the collegiate division of the Central Ohio Flute Association Competition.
The next competition for Bowden takes place April 5, where she will perform a recital consisting of three songs for 20 minutes.
Bowden said she started playing flute when she was in fourth grade and since then she has participated in marching band, concert band, jazz band and orchestra.
“Music is a great window to express emotions that don’t get expressed through words,” Bowden said. “It’s a great way to learn more about history, your own culture and other cultures. I’ve learned a lot about history through my musical experiences and the pieces that I play.”
Over the summer, Bowden will be performing in a music festival, The Consummate Flutist, in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University.
