Forget cherries, stand aside vacation wonderland.
Traverse City is carving out a niche as the capital of young Italian singers.
On Sunday, the 14th Annual Italian Songs and Arias Vocal Competition for Michigan High School Students featured the talents of nine area vocalists: three from Traverse City West Senior High School and six from Interlochen Arts Academy.
Nine out of ten finalists, that is.
Sponsored by the Verdi Opera Theatre of Michigan, the event was held at the Italian-American Culture & Community Center in Clinton Township.
First place winner Mikki Sodergren, an Interlochen senior from Red Wing, Minn., was amazed to walk away with the $1,000 prize.
"I wasn't expecting to win, everyone sang so well and [the judges] took a really long time deliberating -- I think it was a really hard decision," said Sodergren, who plans to attend Westminster Choir College at Princeton next fall.
Interlochen senior Kristina Notghi of Mattawan earned second place and $500 while Paul Wilt of Midland, also a senior, took third and a $200 award. Besides the lone singer from Hudsonville, all finalists this year had ties to Traverse City, including:
-- Heather Durham, junior, West High School
-- Juliana Kartsimas, senior, West High School
-- Erik Wilson, junior, West High School
-- Marissa Keep, Traverse City, senior, Interlochen
-- Darita Seth, Columbus, Ohio, senior, Interlochen
-- Jennifer Zein of Westcliffe, Colo., senior, Interlochen
Since the Italian Songs and Arias Vocal Competition began in 1994, 45 percent of the finalists have had ties to Traverse City area schools: 25 from West, eight from Central, 30 from Interlochen and one from St. Francis High School.
"I think there's a very long history of choral and classical music in the Traverse City Area Public Schools," said Ron Gentry, an instructor of voice for 21 years at Interlochen. "Interlochen, of course, since [founder] Joe Maddy has that kind of tradition."
By trying out, Kartsimas was following West High School's own tradition of student finalists. Amy Baumann, a 2004 graduate, took first place as a sophomore and Kartsimas remembers her well.
"My sister was in the same grade as Amy so I was always hearing her name and it was exciting to be a part of a competition she had done," she said.
The Verdi Opera Theatre of Michigan launched the competition to share Italian culture, encourage music education and support the development of aspiring vocalists. It is one of a few competitions offering cash prizes to high school students.
"The idea that they have to learn the song in Italian and sing it from memory -- live and in front of an audience -- is a tremendous experience," said John Zaretti, co-founder and president of the organization. "Also the arts are the first things that are cut in the schools so here we are telling the schools that we value these kids and it's not only athletics that get the notice."
Judges for the Italian Songs and Arias Vocal Competition anonymously evaluated 51 recorded entries earlier this year. The top ten were invited to perform two memorized songs. Finalists this year presented works by artists including Bencini, Caldara, Carissimi, Donaudy, Gluck, Giordani, Handel, Mozart, Paisiello, Pergolesi, Puccini, A.Scarlatti, Torelli, Tosti, and Verdi.
Making the cut on her second attempt, Durham relished singing before an appreciative and supportive audience that helped soothe any nerves
"They would smile up at you, which makes it a lot easier," she said.
For Wilson, it was somewhat intimidating to sing in Italian -- imbuing each word and phrase with full emotional meaning -- before an audience packed with native speakers steeped in the music.
"They understood all of what we were singing and that was nerve-wracking because if you messed up they'd know," he said.
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