Patel Conservatory Music Students Excel, and Perform on May 5 | Arts & Culture

Most people know that the Patel Conservatory in downtown Tampa offers excellent classes and summer camps in the performing arts. But a lot of people don’t realize that private lessons are also available in just about any aspect of theater, dance and music.

Gregory Ruffer, Music Department chair, gives private voice lessons to numerous students and several have recently won top honors!

Christina Solazzo recently took second place in the high school division at the Miami regional Classical Singer competition.and will take it to the next level, by singing in the finals round of the in Chicago! She’ll be heading there in May, and then soon after, to Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, where she will study with international professionals for six weeks.

Lucas Coura has a big decision to make. He has been admitted to study voice at The Ohio State University, University of Maryland, Long Island University and Stetson University. All have offered him considerable scholarships! Over the summer, he will attend the Patel Conservatory’s Classical Voice Intensive. You can hear Coura sing in “Aida” on April 20 and 22, when he performs with Opera Tampa Chorus at the Straz Center.

Also performing in “Aida” will be Melissa Stewart-Hoffman and Katlyn Iacovino. Melissa will attend Oberlin Conservatory’s summer voice program, where she will study with their faculty. Following that, she will attend the Patel Conservatory’s Vocal Arts Academy Senior Division camp. Katlyn she was the featured soprano soloist with Stephen P. Brown’s orchestra last month, when she premiered a new work by Brown, who is the principal conductor of the Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra.

Evan Welshans will be a featured singer in the spring Broadway production at the College of Central Florida in Ocala. For actually attending college, though, Evan is undecided. He’s been accepted to study voice at Stetson University, University of Central Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University. John Campbell is also deciding between different universities, as he’s been accepted to study voice at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro and the University of North Florida.

You can hear all of these singers will perform at the spring Voice Recital on Saturday, May 5 at 2 p.m. at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts at 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Pl.

Also of note, Patel Conservatory piano instructor John Hernandez has several students who recently participated in the annual auditions of the National Federation of Music Clubs by performing solos, duets and piano concertos. All of them received superior ratings in all events and have been invited to participate in the state auditions in Jacksonville on May 4-5.

Congratulations to all of these talented students! Music is indeed alive and thriving in the Tampa Bay area.