O’Neill Near Top of
National Vocal Competition
Mary-Liz O’Neill, a Huntington High School junior, finished second in a field of 220 highly talented performers in the prestigious Classical Singer national high school vocal competition at the Marriot Marquis in Times Square.
Ms. O’Neill earlier qualified for the national finals during a grueling session at Hofstra University, one of 36 first round sites sprinkled across the country. At the Marriot Marquis, the initial field was whittled down to 29 semi-finalists. After singing again, Ms. O’Neill advanced to the finals, along with seven other contestants.
The final round was nerve-wracking as the eight performers sang during a public concert and were judged by an entirely different panel to determine the top three finishers. Three of the eight finalists were seniors headed to Curtis, Juilliard and San Francisco conservatories, among the best in the world.
Ms. O’Neill received a $1,000 cash prize and scholarship offers worth more than $242,000 from the Eastman School of Music, Lawrence University, Texas Christian University and William Jewell College. She also garnered the Chionia Gibba Memorial Fund Award from the Hellenic Music Foundation. It includes five hours of private coaching in vocal technique (bel canto style), including musical theory, sight singing, ear training and solfege with foundation president and soprano Katia Zallas, who studied with the renowned Shirlee Emmons.
This marked the third year Ms. O’Neill has participated in the Classical Singer competition. She advanced to the second round in 2008 and in 2009 she was second in the first round of the regional and later competed at the national convention in Chicago, making it to the semi-final round of 40.
While in New York City at this year’s competition, Ms. O’Neill attended a college recruiting fair as well as high school master classes presented by various universities and conservatories that were participating in the Classical Singer convention.
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