18 year old mezzo-soprano Bethany Crosby is currently a Senior at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream, Illinois.
Natalie Richardson is a junior at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, IL. She is coached by Peter Kahn at her school’s Spoken Word program; this is her second year participating. In her spare time (besides writing poetry), Natalie enjoys drawing, painting, scuba diving, taking pictures, and eating good food! She hopes to someday scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef and thinks that more public high schools should invest in spoken word programs, as poetry has and continues to be a great source of strength and community in her life.
Soprano Olivia Boen is a 17-year-old senior at Oak Park River Forest High School in Oak Park, IL. A student of Elizabeth Gottlieb, Olivia was a semi-finalist at the 2012 Classical Singer Competition, has placed second and third in NATS competitions, and is a Bel Canto Contest award winner. As a member of the Chicago Children’s Choir, she has been a featured soloist with the prestigious Concert Choir, Madrigals, and Voice of Chicago groups. Olivia has attended summer programs at Interlochen, Lamont School of Music, University of Michigan MPulse, and Oberlin Vocal Academy for High School Singers. In 2012, she also participated in the Illinois All-State Honors Chorus.
As the daughter of two members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestra, Olivia looks forward to continuing the family musical tradition in the fall, when she will begin studying as a Vocal Performance major at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Bethany Crosby, 18, mezzo-soprano, is currently a Senior at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream, Illinois. She has studied voice with Antonio Quaranta for four years and also works under the direction of AJ Wester through Chicago’s Merit School of Music, where she has participated in the Renee Fleming Initiative Solo Voice Program and the Merit Opera and Music Theater Ensemble for the past two years. Bethany has been a member of her high school’s premier mixed a capella ensemble since her freshman year and has also had the honor of attending the District IX IMEA Festival since her Sophomore year, receiving the distinction of highest ranked Alto I this year. She was named to the IMEA All-State Choir in 2012 and the All-State Honors Choir in 2013. She has also participated in numerous vocal competitions and was awarded Second Place at the Northern Illinois Chapter of NATS Audition in 2011 as well as named a Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Elgin Opera Vocal Competition.