Concert brings out local talent

michele@theheraldnewspapers.com On Tuesday, April 25 at Seymour High School the annual Cristin Sutphin Vocal Music Scholarship Concert was held. Nineteen acts sang for the crowd with everything from solos to ensemble mixtures to duets. Juliet Sulphin, Cristin’s sister who has been dancing for eleven years, danced the ballet in honor of her sister for who the scholarship is named. The Seymour High School Mixed Ensemble, the Seymour High School Freshman, the Seymour High School Women’s Ensemble, the Seymour High School Men’s Ensemble and the Seymour Junior High Eagle Ensemble all performed at the event as well as high school seniors and adults. The money collected from donations for the event will be used for the annual Cristin Sutphin Memorial Scholarship which is awarded each year. Former students who have received the award include 2000-Brandon Smith, 2001 – Rebecca Cox, 2002-Amy Ribblett, 2003-Logan Haggard, 2004-Lori Adams and two winners for 2005-Stephanie Brandenburg and John Patterson. To date a total of $11,200 has been awarded to these Seymour High School graduates in memory of Cristin Sutphin. This year’s winner will be announced in May. The program was made possible in part by Ms. Jean Burkhart, Ms. Kim Haggard and Ms. Ann Jackson. “It was a wonderful event as it is every year,” stated one spectator in the audience. “I just love to come and see what talent we have here in the community.” Cristin’s mother Susan stated in an earlier interview, “We wanted to do something that would help other children who wanted to be singers achieve their goal, so we decided to start the Cristin Rebecca Sutphin Scholarship Program,” stated Susan. A scholarship is awarded to a deserving student each year. A team of people pick each year’s scholarship recipient. To qualify a student must hold a GPA of at least 3.25, supply two personal letters of recommendation of the student’s character and write an essay about why music is important to them and how it will be used in their future. Speaking on this year’s event Susan stated, “I was just thrilled with how it went. Cristin would have been so happy and proud. We are so blessed to live in a community that has so much talent. We are so small and there is such an incredible amount of talent coming out of this community. We are just joyous that our family is able to help encourage it.”