CHICAGO – The finals of the 2016 National Student Auditions were held as part of the 54^th NATS National Conference on Sunday afternoon at the Marriott Magnificent Mile. Winners were selected in 15 categories, along with second and third-place finishers, resulting in more than $35,000 in prizes being awarded.

This marked the third year for national semifinal and final rounds. As a result, nearly $100,000 in prizes have been awarded to students of NATS teachers.

Also added this year was the Hall Johnson Spiritual Category. The purpose of this category is to restore authenticity to the performance of the classically-arranged Spiritual, one of America’s unique contributions to world culture.  The competition wishes to encourage high excellence in the performance of this genre, and to this end, the Hall Johnson Estate will provide a cash award of $2,000 for the best performance of a Hall Johnson Spiritual at the biennial national convention from 2016–2036.

Below is a list of winners, by category including their region and voice teacher:

Category I – High School Music Theater Women

1. Faith Brooks (Central, student of Brad Barrett)
2. Zan Berube (New England, student of Noel Smith)
3. Atlee Jensen (North Central, student of Nicole Marschall)

Category II – High School Music Theater Men

1. Andrew Bonomolo (Mid-Atlantic, student of Charles Higgins)
2. Leo Plante (North Central, student of Jerome Elsbernd)
3. Tyler Shore (New England, student of Hannah Murray)

Category III – High School Women

1. Kate Broderick (Central, student of Gloria Olsen)
2. Sarah Aaldering (Cal-Western, student of Kathleen Ludowise)
3. Victoria Hill (Southeastern, student of Reverie Berger)

Category IV – High School Men

1. Tyrese Byrd (tie) (Mid-Atlantic, student of Thomas Dickinson)
   Matthew Goodheart (tie) (Eastern, student of Thomas Goodheart)
   Shayne Piles (tie) (Central, student of Chris Thompson)

Category V – Lower College Music Theater Women

1. Laura Paruzynski (Mid-Atlantic, student of Jonathan Doyel)
2. Roni Shelley Perez (West Central, student of Shelby VanNordstrand
3. Amanda Mason (Mid-Atlantic, student of Carrie Stevens)

Category VI – Lower College Music Theater Men

1. Tyler Smith (Southeastern, student of Rebecca Salter)
2. Noah Lindquist (West Central, student of Reginald Pittman)
3. Caleb Brown (Southeastern, student of Andrea Mueller)

Category VII – Lower College/Independent Studio Women

1. Anja Pustaver (North Central, student of Matthew Markham)
2. Sicily Mathenia (Central, student of Carole Gaspar)
3. Claire Powling (North Central, student of Mimmi Fulmer)

Category VIII – Lower College/Independent Studio Men

      1. Patrick Graham (tie) (Central, student of Ann Harrell)
      1. Robert Skylis (tie) (Great Lakes, student of Drake Dantzler)
      3. Jeffrey Todd (tie) (Mid-Atlantic, student of John Wright)
      3. David Fournie (tie) (Central, student of Marc Schapman)

Category IX – Upper College Music Theater Women

1. Cheyanne Osoria (Southeastern, student of Andrea Price)
2. Kiani Nelson (Eastern, student of Michael Rider)
3. Amy Docalavich (Southeastern, student of Toni Anderson)

Category X – Upper College Music Theater Men

1. Jalen Smith (Southeastern, student of Toni Anderson)
2. M. Tyler Cook (Southeastern, student of Tonya Currier)
3. Craig Smith (Mid-Atlantic, student of Tommy Watson)

Category XI – Upper College/Independent Studio Women

1. Mary Kettlewell (Central, student of Ann Harrell)
2. Zoe Elizabeth McCray (Mid-Atlantic, student of Kevin McMillan)
3. Isabelle Maina (Southeastern, student of Marcia Porter)

Category XII – Upper College/Independent Studio Men

1. David Catalano (Central, student of Yvonne Gonzales-Redman)
2. Erik Grendahl (Mid-Atlantic, student of Kevin McMillan)
3. Prentiss Mouton (Southern, student of Loraine Sims)

Category XIII – Advanced College/Independent Studio Women

1. Suzanne Karpov (Mid-Atlantic, student of Elizabeth Daniels)
2. Rebecca Sacks (Northwestern, student of Ruth Dobson)
3. Na Ae Park (Mid-Atlantic, student of Patricia Miller)

Category XIV – Advanced College/Independent Studio Men

1. Andrew Hiers (Eastern, student of Thomas Goodheart)
2. Austin Sanders (North Central, student of Daniel Johnson-Wilmot)
3. Sean Stanton (Central, student of Annie Picard)
4. Raymond Graybar (North Central, student of Daniel Johnson-Wilmot)

Hall Johnson Spiritual Category

1. Corinthia Sims (Mid-Atlantic, student of Lori Hicks)
2. Prentiss Mouton (Southern, student of Loraine Sims)
3. Stephan Wilson (Great Lakes, student of LaToya Lain)