Hammerstein International Youth Solo Contest winners named

Winners for the nonprofit Oscar Hammerstein Museum and Theatre Education Center’s (OHMTEC) International Youth Solo Contest were announced in a prerecorded awards ceremony broadcast recently.

The second annual contest attracted 151 applicants from near and far, including representation from five continents.

The contest serves to educate young musical theater enthusiasts about the influence Oscar Hammerstein II had on the tremendous development of the modern Broadway musical as we know it. The contest also raises international awareness of the nonprofit’s mission to save Oscar Hammerstein’s Doylestown home and open the home to the public as a museum. Plans include building a theater education center on the site of the existing bank barn.

Soloist videos can be seen on Facebook @hammersteinmuseum.

Winners are:

College Division

First place: Eirene Stavropoulos, 19, Naperville, Ill., voice teacher, Timothy Noble; second place: Luke Tongson, Quezon City, Philippines; third place: Sierra Safran, Doylestown;

High School Division

First place: Helena Badiali, 15, Doylestown, voice teacher, Anne Odland; second place, Fiona Coughlin, Akron, Ohio; third place, Hannah Tramonte, Wadsworth, Ohio;

Middle School Division

First place: Kylie Kuioka, 11, Brooklyn, N.Y., voice teacher, Justin John Moniz; second place: Matthew Bussell, Westfield, Mass.; third place: Matthew Vallero, Davis, Calif.;

Elementary School Division

First place: Reese Racicot, 9, Plymouth, Mass., voice teacher, Paige Taylor; second place, Niamh Smith, Wicklow, Ireland; third place, Rada Kanjanapruk, Bangkok, Thailand;

Bucks County Division

First place: Charlotte Raynor, 12, Chalfont, voice teacher, Linsey Griffin; second place: Ella Patras, Doylestown; third place, Emily Kane, Jamison; fourth place: Annabel Bower, Doylestown; fifth place, Annamarie Yates, Perkasie.

This year’s winners will receive a cash prize and are invited to perform during the cocktail hour at the foundation’s upcoming fundraising gala, Broadway Sings the Sound of Hammerstein. They will also receive a voice lesson with Broadway performer and OHMTEC Honorary Advisory Board member Justin Guarini. A panel of judges evaluated the final round of solo submissions, including vocal coach Bob Marks, playwright David Henry Hwang and Dan Callaway, assistant professor of voice at Boston Conservatory.

Last year’s College Division winner, Taylor Mitchell, paid it forward this year by partially funding the contest. The Broadway gala is made possible by a grant from Visit Bucks County.

Tickets are available for OHMTEC’s July 11 Broadway Gala, hosted by Ted Chapin and featuring Broadway stars Christy Altomare, Justin Guarini and Derek Klena.

For information, visit HammersteinMuseum.org.

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