Senior Voice Concerto Competition: Honorable Mention

Jayla Gillaspie is a high school junior and has been Helen Niedung's voice student for almost six years. She is homeschooled and in addition to voice lessons, she takes piano, flute, and oboe lessons. She has also successfully completed the Basic Music Theory course offered by the International Academy of Music.

Church activities playa large part in Jayla's life and she has competed with Scripture recitations, instrumental solos, and sacred songs with good success these past years. In 2007, she was the Middle School Winner in Voice in the Southwest Florida Music Teachers Association Scholarship Audition. At the 2007 Federation of Music Clubs State Junior Convention, in Jacksonville, Florida, she received Honorable Mentions in both Art Song and Musical Theatre. In 2008, Jayla was the Second Place Winner in Voice for both the Calusa Musicale and the Southwest Florida Music Teachers Scholarship Audition. She also performed for the NFMC Seminole District Fall 2008 meeting in Sarasota, Florida. Also in 2008, Jayla participated in the first Bach Ensemble Bach Festival in Bonita Springs, Florida, where she received an Honorable Mention. In March 2010, she placed First in Woodwind Solo playing oboe, and Second in Women's Vocal Solo at the Sunshine State Association of Christian Schools competition in Clearwater, Florida. Also in this year, she placed Second in Voice at the Calusa Musicale Scholarship Auditions.

In addition to her music studies, Jayla is an avid beekeeper and manages a small business aptly named "Jayla's Bees." When she is not beekeeping, practicing, or studying, Jayla is preparing lessons for a girls' discipleship group she leads. Jayla is grateful for her parents and for the many fine teachers and mentors she has had over the years.