My mother has always told me I’ve started to sing even before I could talk, ever since she first hummed the melody of “O Sole Mio” to me. I first began to dedicate my life to it once I joined varsity choir my Sophomore year of high school. Upon hearing my audition, my choral teacher immediately recognized my talent and mentored and encouraged me to pursue music in ways I never imagined for myself. Thanks to his guidance, by my first year, I placed 3rd chair as a Tenor 1 in the Texas All-State choral competition and began competing in UIL solo competitions achieving superior scores. In the following 2 years, I was able to maintain a 1st chair streak in that competition for both years. I was encouraged to audition for the Colorado Vocal Institute where I discovered my love for classical, musical theatre, romantic pop, and jazz genres. Since then, I have performed as a soloist in various talent shows and community/business events, joined a capella groups, sang in multiple competitions, and partook in many conventions as an Texas All-State singer/competitor. By my senior year, after all these experiences, I knew I wanted to pursue music in college. I am thankful that UNC Chapel Hill offered me a music scholarship to attend, giving me the opportunity to meet my brilliant voice professor, Timothy Sparks. This year, he has pushed me to even greater heights I never dreamt possible for myself, joining such as joining the UNC Chamber singers, singing in the UNC operetta showcase working under Maestro Romolo Gessi from Trieste, Italy, and placing 1st in my category at the NC Musical Theatre NATS competition with an outstanding performer award, only given to two of the 1st place performers. It is my dream to continue growing as an artist and hopefully make the world a better place by sharing my art and passion.
You can find JohnPaul’s 2024 Spring Music Competition vocal performance here.