We had it all tonight! Cold weather, sore throats, cancellations, a fall and sprained ankle; and, a mix up at the end, but we did it! First place was not announced properly, but the checks were made out correctly.

The winner of $500, and an automatic advancement to the May Finals: 1st place goes to Kristyn Chalker, a senior at Cy-Creek. Second place and $300 went to Hannah Miller, a sophomore at Klein Collins. Third place and $200 went to Brittany Thaxton, a senior at Klein. Congratulations to the other 8 contestants and especially Charlotte Byrd for braving a sprained ankle to keep on performing!

Congratulations to the winners...

Kristyn Chalker

Senior, Cy-Creek High School
Grand Prize Winner
$500

Hannah Miller

Sophomore, Klein Collins High School
Second Place Winner
$300

Brittany Thaxton

Senior, Klein High School
Third Place Winner
$200

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Congratulations to ALL our finalists, in order of appearance...

BRITTANY THAXTON is a 17 year-old senior at Klein High School. Not only has she been in numerous service activities with her school and church, but she has been performing and dancing since age 3 and has been singing for the past two years. This past summer she was Anita in West Side Story at Playhouse 1960 and just recently finished a role in the BFG at her school. Brittany loves to perform and wants to thank all of her family and friends for their endless support. She will be singing “Don’t Rain on my Parade”.

KIRSTEN JOHNSON is a senior at Cy-Fair High school who loves to be on the stage. She has participated in HFAC’s production of Godspell, as well as the same show at her own high school. She has also assisted backstage as stage manager on You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown at her school as well. She has also been participant in her school choir for four years now, and has been a member of the top varsity choir for two years. She will sing “The Miller’s Son”.

ROBERT ABASOLO as a Junior at Klein Forest. This is his first year in varsity theatre and choir, and has been in theatre since the 5th grade. He is this years social coordinator for the drama dept at KF. His favorite role ever played was recently playing Snoopy for his high school musical ‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown’. Right now he is pursuing Musical Theatre because he feels that this is what God is calling him to do. He will be singing “Suppertime”.

KRISTYN CHALKER is a senior at Cy-Creek who lives for the stage. She has been performing a majority of her life and has no inclination to stop doing so. She has been in many productions recently appearing as Rizzo in her school’s production of Grease, but her favorite roles include Sister Amnesia in Nunsense, Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and Boo in her school’s UIL One Act Play, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, that advanced to Region. In addition to being in her school’s top choral program, she was a member of the TMEA Mixed All-State Choir. After she graduates in may, she plans to pursue a BFA in Musical Theatre. She will sing Taylor the Latte Boy.

HANNAH MILLER is a sophomore at Klein Collins High School. She loves to be involved with choir and theater. Her 1st performance was in Bye Bye Birdie at ACE Theater. She will be playing the role of Mrs. Potts in KCHS’s February production of Beauty and the Beast. She was 1st at NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) in the musical theater division her freshman year and was 3rd place at the September Culture Shapers. She would like to thank her mother and voice teacher Bob Collette for helping her. She will be singing Gimme Gimme from Thoroughly Modern Millie.

SHELBY MULLINS is a freshman at Lamar High School. She began singing at the age of 3 and started competing in talent shows at age 5. She loves all types of music, but mainly sings gospel and pop. She is studying guitar and has taken voice lessons from Eric Bruner. Her recent accomplishment was winning 1st place in the junior division of the Inspire the Desire Gospel Talent Show. Winning that contest has opened doors for her to perform at greater Houston area McDonald's Restaurants Grand Openings, several Katrina concerts and appearing at several churches. She has also been in the studio recording a demo and hope to have it finalized in the next few months. She will be appearing on November 11th on the Christian Talent Stage to compete in the Interstate Jam contest at Greenspoint Mall. This large event is to raise funds for the construction of several youth centers in the outlying Houston Metro Areas. She will be singing Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend.

REBECCA NAOMI MOYES is a sophomore at St. Thomas Episcopal High School. She cannot remember a time when she didn’t want to be on the stage. She performed in her first musical at the age of 4 and has been in more than 20 since then. Most recently she was in Aladdin at ACT @TUTS. She will be singing The Wizard and I from Wicked.

CHARLOTTE BYRD is a sophomore at Klein Collins High School where is active in choir, orchestra and drama. She was voted the outstanding musician in the freshman A Capella Choir and outstanding soloist in both their UIL and D/C Festival competition in South Padre Island last spring. She is looking forward to being a part of KC’s February musical, Beauty and the Beast, and the mixed show choir, the Collins Commotion. Most recently, she made the mixed Region Choir and will be moving on to Pre-Area. Many thanks to Jody Haas, her voice teacher, for all of her support and guidance.

CHANDLER ROBERTS is a home-schooled Junior and she is excited about returning to Young Voices of Houston in December. She was a finalist in last years competition. She recently performed as a Narrator in the TUTS performance of Aladdin Jr. She has also performed at Main Street Theatre and Playhouse 1960. She sings weekly at Champion Forest Baptist Church, and she was a part of the independent film company CrossWind Productions for two years, playing the supporting role in the film, The Saber. She will be singing, “I am Afraid This Must Be Love.”

BRITTANY SCHWARTZ is a senior at Cypress Creek High School. She began her performing career dancing (ballet, tap, and jazz), but has switched gears and now pursues musical theater. Along with with UIL’s All Star cast award from her role as Christina Mundy in Dancing at Lughnasa, Brittany has competed at the State Thespian convention and advanced to Nationals multiple times. Her greatest joy was being able to choreograph and participate in the group musical “Cell Block Tango” which was also a National Qualifier. Recently she performed the role of Sandy in her school’s production of Grease and was fortunate enough to choreograph the musical as well. She will sing- Not for the Life of Me.

ALI PREJEAN is a freshman at Katy. Ali has been singing since she was 2 from Church Choirs, School Choir and Show Choir along with School Theatre to her more recent performances at Festivals and Fundraisers. She has played the role of Cinderella and Jasmine in Disney's Jr. Theatre Productions and Dori in School House Rocks. She has studied music under the direction of Kim Wood Sandusky and was first inspired by the Diva’s of Country and Pop. She will be bringing in the Christmas season by performing “Oh Holy Night”.

About the Judges...

Sandra Campbell

Soprano Sandra Campbell appears regularly with Houston Grand Opera. She has appeared in over 50 Houston Grand Opera productions including Carmen, as Frasquita, The Coronation of Poppea as Valetto, and as Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro. Ms. Campbell has toured in nine productions with Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go!, including Hansel and Gretel as Gretel, and The Magic Flute as Pamina. Additional opera credits include Adina in The Elixir of Love with Beaumont Civic Opera, Adele in Die Fledermaus, and Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte. Ms. Campbell’s musical theatre credits include Anne in A Little Night Music, Luisa in The Fantastiks, Laurie in Oklahoma, and Rosamund in The Robber Bridegroom. Roles in Vanities and The Good Doctor are among her acting credits. Ms. Campbell has also appeared as a soloist in Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, the Vivaldi Gloria, and as Gabriel in The Creation with the Houston Choral Society. Ms. Campbell is currently Executive Director of Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go, and Executive Director of Houston Grand Opera’s Storybook Opera, a program which she created. She resides with her husband and 7 year old daughter in Kingwood, Texas.

Jesse Fernandez

Jesse Fernandez earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Southwestern University, where he graduated cum laude. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Chi, Pi Kappa Lambda, and was an active member of Delta Omicron, the national music fraternity. At Southwestern, Jesse was active as a soloist, performing with the university chorale and orchestra in great choral works such as Bach's Mass in B Minor and Handel's Judas Macabeus.

He recently toured Chicago as a part of the University opera theater program, performing art songs by Debussy, Faure, and Schubert, as well as Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi. In April 2000, Jesse was invited as a soloist to perform with the Austin Youth Symphony. He has also actively pursued theatrical interests, as a featured performer in Dames at Sea, Godspell, Anything Goes, and Man of La Mancha. Michael Barnes of The Austin American Statesman, in his review of Godspell, described Jesse's voice as "especially agile [and] expressive". In the summer of 2000, Jesse was invited to be a featured actor in the University of Wyoming's summer theater program, where he starred in productions of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and The Foreigner. Since graduation, Jesse has been a member of the Austin Vocal Arts Ensemble, recently returning from a performance of Haydn's Mass in time of War at Carnegie Hall, and is a current member of the Houston Choral Society.

Lynn Jordan

Conductor, singer, keyboardist and teacher, Lynn Jordan has been musically active for over 30 years in a variety of music venues in both Houston and Las Vegas. In addition to teaching privately, Ms. Jordan also teaches public school music, as well as serving as a United Methodist Music Director.

Ms. Jordan received her Bachelor of Music degree, cum laude, in Vocal Music Education, from the University of Houston and continued graduate studies in Choral Conducting both there and at Southwest Texas State University. Recently, she completed a course of study at SMU's Perkins School of Theology to become a Certified Director of Music in the United Methodist Church and had the opportunity to study with such notables as Rosemary Heffley, Michael Hawn, Jane Marshall, and Alice Parker.

In recent years, Ms. Jordan has served as Music Director/Worship Leader for churches in the Houston area and has been a member, section director, and patron for the Houston Choral Society for several years. She holds memberships in several music organizations and is also the mother of five grown children and the grandmother of two lively grandsons. She currently resides in Tomball, Texas.

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