Music Students Showcase Talents in Statewide and Regional Competitions

Darien Britt placed 3rd in the college senior classical category of the Virginia National Association of Teachers of Singing (VNATS) Student Auditions held at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, in February. 

Sorento Burns III placed 1st in both the classical and commercial music categories for a college junior. He went on to place 3rd in both the classical and commercial music categories in the Mid-Atlantic Region NATS Student Auditions at North Carolina University School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 

He will compete in the preliminary round of the NATS National Student Auditions this month. In February, Burns was also the 2nd place winner of the $1,000 prize in the Sue Goetz Student Competition for Voice sponsored by the Friday Morning Music Club of Washington, D.C. 

Darien Britt is a senior Music Education major from Portsmouth, Virginia, and Sorento Burns III is a junior Music Media major from Norfolk. Prof. Chen-Wolbrink is their collaborative pianist and Prof. Greg Gardner is their voice teacher. 

From left to right are Darien Britt, Sorento Burns III, Prof. Chi Yi Chen-Wolbrink, Greg Gardner