Story and photo by Kathy Stephens, Forney Messenger

Three students from the Stephens Vocal Studio and Forney High School have earned First Division ratings on their vocal solos at the recent Texas State Solo & Ensemble Competition held at the University of Texas at Austin on May 30. They are Senior Ragan Pharris, who sang a song titled Nancy Hanks; Sophomore Chelsea Emberlin, who sang a song titled Le Violette and Sophomore Amanda Lee, who sang a song titled Sure On This Shining Night. Additionally, Junior Amber Clark earned a Second Division on her solo titled Early in the Morning, and Junior Casey Drane earned a rating of Good on her solo titled The Sleep That Flits on Baby’s Eyes.

All were judged by vocal professors from various universities from all over the state of Texas. In order to qualify for this event, each singer had to earn a First Division on a Class I solo back in February at the Regional Solo & Ensemble event which was held in Rockwall this year.

Voice teacher Kathy Stephens stated: “This is some of the most critical judging the students are subjected to all year and I am very proud of all of these girls for their level of preparation and dedication to learning and perfecting this very difficult literature.”

Below: Senior Ragan Pharris, Voice Teacher Kathy Stephens, and Sophomore Chelsea Emberlin. Not pictured is Sophomore Amanda Lee.

This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com.