Written by Karen Nelson
Lundstrum Performing Arts and North Hight student Aniyah Warren was recently honored with third place at the Minnesota – National Association of Teachers of Singing (MN-NATS) chapter auditions held in November. NATS is one of the region’s most prestigious and rigorous student competitions.
Aniyah Warren is a junior at North High School, and she has trained at Lundstrum since 2021. Warren was the lead actor in Lundstrum’s 2023 Anything Goes performance and has been highlighted in other shows.
Founded in 1944, NATS promotes excellence in singing through teaching, performance and research. To compete in NATS’ audition process, students prepare selections from three different categories, all to be performed within eight minutes. The auditions enable critical feedback to be offered to students and expand the community for which they’ve performed.
Warren participates in Lundstrum’s voice program under the direction of vocal director Susan Casserly-Kosel who explains, “Students must prepare music and sing for an extended time. The challenge is to polish that amount of music, and sustain a performance….Its fun to get a measurement. One of the greatest benefits is getting to hear the other singers. Its not just about what our students do; they get to be a part of a wider circle of singers.”
Lundstrum Performing Arts, Minnesota’s premier educational program for dance, voice and drama, is located in North Minneapolis at 1617 North Second Street off Broadway. More info at Lundstrum.org.