Winners Announced of 11th Annual Hal Leonard Vocal Competition

Hal Leonard has announced the winners of the 2021 Hal Leonard Vocal Competition for young classical and theatre singers, comprised entirely of YouTube video submissions. Entries for the 2021 competition were at an all-time high. Singers competed in two divisions: Art Song and Musical Theatre, with four age categories for each, children through college undergraduates. Hal Leonard gave away more than $10,000 in cash prizes and gift certificates to encourage singers to build a music library for their studies.

There is no entry fee or travel cost to an audition site for the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition, unlike almost every other music competition. Singers from all over the U.S. and Canada can compete with others in their age group and view videos online. One of the aims of the competition is for singers to hear other singers of similar age and learn from one another. Another aim of the competition is to recognize the good work of the voice teachers who fostered these young talented performers. Playlists of results in each category may be viewed on the Hal Leonard Vocal YouTube channel.

First Place Winners for 2021 in Art Song: College/University Undergraduates (ages 18-23): Sophie Naubert from the Conservatoire de musique de Montreal  • High School Voices (ages 16-18): Joseph Murphy of Brooklyn, New York • Early Teen Voices (ages 13-15): Kennedy Percival of Upland, California • Children’s Voices (ages 12 and under): Lily Yezdanian or Clifton, New Jersey.

First Place Winners for 2021 in Musical Theatre: Young Adult Voices (ages 18-23): Morgan Mastrangelo from Northwestern University • High School Voices (ages 16-18): Aliyah Douglas of Oro Valley, Arizona • Early Teen Voices (ages 13-15): Lizzie Gill of Dublin, Ohio • Children’s Voices (ages 12 and under): Katherine Berdovskiy of Davis, California.

Rick Walters, Vice-President of Classical & Vocal Publications at Hal Leonard, and founder of the competition, states, “In our eleventh year of the Hal Leonard Vocal Competition, we had a record number of entries, with nearly 1700 singers in all categories. It is heartening to see so many young singers joyfully making music during the pandemic. It raises our spirits!”

The rules, required repertoire and prizes, as well as a complete listing of winners and top placing videos for 2021–and previous years–may be found at halleonard.com/vocalcomp. A printed list of all winners can be found here. Visit the Hal Leonard Vocal YouTube Channel here.