Soprano singers Katherine Jones and Amy Wooster, along with many other Jacobs School of Music students, took top honors in the undergraduate voice category at the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale competition. Jones took the first place prize of $1,250, and Wooster received $1,000.
The Indianapolis Matinee Musicale competition is an opportunity for aspiring musicians to compete with others across a variety of platforms, including vocal, piano and instrumental at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Jones said she started singing in second grade, and her mother could never get her to stop singing around the house. Now she’s a junior in Jacobs and has competed once before in the Matinee Musicale.
“Music has been a constant encouragement though my life, and I feel immensely fortunate to be able to pursue my passion,” Jones said. “This year was great. I got to go to Matinee Musicale with my best friend, and I am very happy with the way I performed.”
Wooster said she began at a young age as well and has sung in choirs since middle school.
“Through that, I gained a love of singing and performing,” Wooster said. “I remember being one of the weird choir kids who loved singing the concert pieces over the popular songs, which pushed me to research more about classical music. My junior year of high school is when I discovered opera and fell in love with it.”
Wooster’s time at IU has been enriched by professionals and coaches dedicated to seeing their students succeed, she said
Matinee Musicale was another constructive experience, which Wooster said is crucial for anyone looking to practice music.
“The biggest piece of advice I would give to a prospective student is to find a teacher immediately,” Wooster said. “It is crucial to find a teacher who will not only improve technique but also help with choosing an audience repertoire. Also, I would educate a new student to educate him or herself and get involved.”
Being on stage is a transformative experience, Wooster said.
“I love being able to walk on stage and be a completely different person,” Wooster said. “It’s an amazing out-of-body experience where I get to play a character that is unlike myself. The feeling of being onstage is difficult to describe, but I best define it as feeling a special connection to the music, the words, the character and the audience.”
Jones said for her, performing is a rush.
“Luckily I don’t get super nervous anymore but rather channel any energy that could have gone into being nervous into focus,” Jones said. “Most of the time I don’t even remember singing, I get ‘performance amnesia’ the adrenaline basically takes over.”
After the competition, Jones shifted her focus to being a student and working on the upcoming production of “The Music Man.”
Thinking about graduate school, Jones said she often reflects on music’s ability to unite.
“It connects with audience and performer in ways that spoken word cannot,” Jones said. “I think that everyone should incorporate some aspect of music into their day to day lives. It is what helps me get up in the morning and my constant encouragement to do my best and do justice to the music that I am performing.”
