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Annual Hickory Tree Chorus Scholarship
We congratulate Carianne Bennett and Lauren Kahn, recipients of the Hickory Tree Chorus Scholarship for 2007!
We are once again pleased to offer a $1,000 scholarship to a musically talented young woman interested in pursuing a career in music. The chorus has been awarding annual scholarships for over 20 years to students from areas in which its members reside.
Qualified high school senior girls with good academic records and exceptional talent in vocal music are encouraged to apply, for next year's scholarship. Students should also have applied for acceptance into a music program at a college or university.
The current year's deadline was April 14, 2008. All applicants will be notified of the results during the week of May 22, 2008. Good luck!
Below you can meet our recent scholarship recipients: 2007 – Carianne Bennett and Lauren Kahn, 2006 – Chelsea Friedlander, 2005 – Katlyn Lucio, 2004 – Ashley Ann Koning, 2003 – Elise Figa, 2002 – Cassandra Lambros, and 2001 – Nili Riemer.
2007 Scholarship Winners – Carianne Bennett & Lauren Kahn
Carianne Bennett and Lauren Kahn were named recipients of the 2007 Hickory Tree Chorus Music Scholarship. Carianne is the daughter of Linda and Lee Bennett of Millington. Lauren is the daughter of Carolyn Schmidt and Dan Kahn of Gillette. For the first time in its 20 year history, the scholarship was awarded to two young women who are members of Hickory Tree Chorus. Both very talented, deserving winners are 2007 graduates of Watchung Hills Regional High School.
Carianne Bennett will major in Vocal Studies at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. Her extensive musical background includes participation in the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, placing as high as second; participation in the Spoleto Arts Symposium in Italy, performing the role of Mother in Hansel and Gretel; and acceptance to the All-State Opera Festival.
Lauren Kahn will major in Physics and minor in Music at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. A member of the National Honor Society and a Bloustein Distinguished Scholar, Lauren was recognized by Watchung Hills Regional High School for Outstanding Achievement in both Calculus and French. She has studied voice, piano, music theory, and arranging, and has participated in the New Jersey Youth Chorus, Central New Jersey Regions Chorus, and the New Jersey All-State Chorus.
In conjunction with her Advanced Placement Physics class, Lauren Kahn conducted independent research regarding the ties between physics and vocal pedagogy, with Carianne Bennett assisting in the project.
Both young women have performed with Hickory Tree Chorus, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, and with Capriccio, a registered Sweet Adelines quartet. In competitions with the chorus, they have been named Regional Champions, and with Capriccio, they have placed as high as third at the Sweet Adelines's Rising Star Quartet Competition (2005).
2006 Scholarship Winner – Chelsea Friedlander
Hickory Tree Chorus is proud to present its 2006 Scholarship to Chelsea Friedlander, daughter of Brian and Helene Friedlander of Port Murray, NJ. As a recent graduate of West Morris Central High School, Chelsea was a member of the Women's Ensemble, Concert Choir, and Mixed Choir for all four years. She was a featured soloist in The West Morris Messiah Concert and sang Handel's "Rejoice Greatly." Chelsea has participated in the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Choir in Los Angeles, California (2005), NJ All State Choir (2003, 2004), Senior Region Choir (2003, 2004) and Junior Region Choir (2002, 2000).
Chelsea has spent her summers at music camps such as the highly acclaimed Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, where she was one of 28 selected for the Advanced Vocal Program. She also has attended the Solo Vocal Program and Musical Theatre summer programs at Westminster Choir College. In 2000 and 2002 she used her talent for a good cause and performed two benefit Concerts at Centenary College, Hackettstown, NJ, which raised over $1,000 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. In February 2005, Chelsea performed with New Jersey's Ridge Light Opera, "Operagious!," in Orpheus in the Underworld, singing the role of Cupid.
This year Chelsea was awarded a Merit Award Winner from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. In April she was a first place Scholarship winner for the Monmouth Civic Chorus, won the Eugenie Colardorci Arts Scholarship from the Arts Council of the Morris Area, and won second place at the Classical Singer Magazine High School Competition, May 2006.
This summer Chelsea will be attending SongFest 2006 Artist Program at Pepperdine University in California. Hoping to pursue an operatic career, this talented young woman will begin studying Vocal Performance with Dr. Mary Schiller in the fall at The Cleveland Institute of Music.
2005 Scholarship Winner – Katlyn Lucio
Hickory Tree Chorus is proud to present its 2005 Scholarship winner, Katlyn Lucio, who graduated in 2005 from Sparta High School. Katlyn Lucio has been filling the world with music since the age of six. She has had formal training on the piano and violin. She has enjoyed 12 years of competitive dancing in ballet, jazz and tap. She has even taken master tap classes with Savion Glover.
At the age of 16, Katlyn decided to change her focus from dance to singing. In her freshmen year of high school she joined the select choir, the concert choir, the regional choir and the all-state choir. She has continued these and many more choirs throughout her last four years of high school. Just recently she performed with the Select Choir at Carnegie Hall. Katlyn has achieved the second highest Alto II score in the New Jersey state choir and has been nominated for the New Jersey Governor's Award.
As a member of the rock band, Fascination Autumn, Katlyn as appeared in numerous concerts and was the youngest band to become regular performers at CBGB's, a New York City nightclub. Most recently, Katlyn performed the lead role in the Sparta High School production of Little Shop of Horrors to rave reviews. Academically, Katlyn has a GPA of 4.0 and was accepted to the University of Delaware, where she will major in Music Performance.
Katlyn also does charitable engagements. She does solo vocal work, small group engagements, and vocal accompaniment with a jazz band. Katlyn is a regular singer of the National Anthem at local sporting events and community service events. She works with Pass it Along, a local community volunteer group and has performed for many senior citizen events, both in dance and voice.
2004 Scholarship Winner – Ashley Ann Koning
Hickory Tree Chorus is proud to present its 2004 Scholarship winner, Ashley Ann Koning, who graduated in 2004 from Bridgewater Raritan High School. While a student there, Ashley was a member of the Women's Chorus, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and Lorelei selectwoman's ensemble. She performed on multiple occasions as a soloist in these choirs and had major roles in her high school musical productions of Into the Woods, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Wizard of Oz, and The Pirates of Penzance throughout her four years. For her role as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, she received a Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star nomination in the category of best supporting actress. Ashley was also part of the NJ Teen Art's Program for Somerset County, advancing each time as an outstanding vocal soloist to the state level at The College of New Jersey.
Ashley enrolled in fall 2004 at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA as both a John Marshall Academic Scholar and a Music Scholar. In her first year, she participated in four of the school's theatrical productions, including the satirical musical Of Thee I Sing. She was also selected to perform a solo in the annual Broadway Revue, as well as participate in many of the other numbers. In addition, the college's music department chose Ashley to enroll in private lessons for credit with acclaimed soprano Gwynne Geyer. She performed her first voice recital in April 2005, singing solo pieces of various genres. She will partake in such a recital each semester. Ashley has decided to pursue a minor in musical performance, building her repertoire to eventually perform her own voice recital in her senior year. While at home, she will continue to study voice and vocal technique under the direction of Mr. Michael Stuempfle.
2003 Scholarship Winner – Elise Figa
Hickory Tree Chorus is proud to present its 2003 Scholarship winner, Elise Figa, daughter of Fred and Janice Figa of Randolph. As a recent graduate of Randolph High School, Elise Figa was a member of every choral group, including the Concert Choir, Touring Choir and Women’s Ensemble. She also enjoyed working as the Student Director of these ensembles, rehearsing the groups during school and conducting musical pieces at concerts. In the seventh grade, she started becoming active in the NJSMA/NJMEA Junior Regional, Senior Regional, and All-State Choruses. Placing first in the state, Elise was honored to be selected the Soprano Section Leader of the 2003 NJ All-State Chorus. By means of this honor, she had the opportunity to perform with the 2003 MENC All-Eastern Honors Chorus in Providence, RI.
Elise is also very active in Music Ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, where she has worked as the Music Intern and sings in many choirs. Two of those ensembles, The Canzonetta Singers and the Ringers on the Green (a high-school handbell choir), released full-length compact discs in the fall. The Ringers have toured Bermuda, Texas, Michigan, North Carolina and Maine, performing for nursing home residents, church services and several community events.
In July, Elise will perform for Hickory Tree Chorus and be presented with her award. The chorus, in turn, will perform for her and her family. In the fall, this talented young woman will attend the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where she will study Music Education and Voice.
2002 Scholarship Winner – Cassandra Lambros
Hickory Tree Chorus is proud to present its 2002 Scholarship winner, Cassandra Lambros. Cassandra has a most impressive background and extensive musical experience both as a violinist and classical soprano. She was a member of the 2001 New Jersey All-State Orchestra and New Jersey Region II High School Orchestra for three years. She has appeared for the South Plainfield Cultural Arts Commission as featured violinist for four years, as soloist with the Westfield Solo Concerto Orchestra, under the direction of her teacher, Steve Wolosonovitch, and in a program for The National Arts Club Pastel Society in New York City.
Cassandra began voice studies with her mother Louise Lambros and more recently, studied with Sonia Lewis and Emily Golden, both of Westfield. She won silver medal in the Little Opera of New Jersey 2002 Young Vocal Artists Competition in February and has done solo work with the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth.
In addition, Cassandra presented Sarasate’s "Zigeunerweisen" and Masse’s coloratura aria "Air du Rossignol" with the Westfield Solo Concerto Orchestra in June 2002, in Westfield. Awarded a Plainfield Musical Club Scholarship, she played for them at a dinner in June 2002.
Cassandra’s poetry has been included in the 2001 Edition of The International Society of Poetry Anthology. Her biography appears in the 34th, 35th, and 36th Editions of Who’s Who Among American High School Students and the 2002 Edition of National English Merit Award. An honor and high honor roll student every year in high school, she has also found time to serve as an aide in the St. George Greek Orthodox Church Sunday School First Grade for four years.
Cassandra graduated from Watchung Hills Regional High School and has begun to pursue her music career at Rutger’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. She is the daughter of Ted and Louise Lambros of Warren and has an older brother, Ted, who is in college.
2001 Scholarship Winner – Nili Riemer
Nili Riemer is a coloratura soprano who has been involved with singing since her early years growing up in Israel.
Nili has been studying opera for the past four years with a private teacher, and she is now pursuing a double degree program at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and Tufts University, where she is double majoring in Vocal Performance and International Relations.
In addition to the Sweet Adelines/Hickory Tree Chorus Music Scholarship, she also won the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts classical voice award, and she has been recognized by the Presidential Scholars Committee in the Arts.
Currently, Nili is participating in Tufts University's only Jewish a cappella group, "Shir Appeal," which recently toured California. At NEC, she takes master classes and performs with the NEC Chorus.
In the future, look for Nili anywhere from Broadway to the Met!
