"I owe a lot to the Vocal Apprenticeship Program. Without this assistance I would not have been able to have vocal lessons, classes at New England Conservatory, or have made so many wonderful friends."
-Rebekah Priestly, 2009 Candace MacMillen Achtmeyer Award Winner

The Handel and Haydn Society is recognized as a leader and innovator in providing music education to public school students. The Vocal Apprenticeship Program was established in 1994 to identify and nurture youngsters with special talent whose families lack the financial resources to pursue private instruction. The Candace MacMillen Achtmeyer Award extends the Society's support to an outstanding senior who has participated for at least two years in the Vocal Apprenticeship Program (High School Soloists).

The award was named in the memory of Candace MacMillen Achtmeyer in 2001. A member of the Handel and Haydn Society Board starting in 1993, Candace was a member of the Education Committee, where she voiced passionate opinions about the Society's responsibility to the community and children in particular. We miss her quiet yet persuasive leadership, her unfailing support for the Society and its mission, and her enduring vision for our future.

For more information, please contact Robin Baker, Director of Education at 617 262 1815, x126 or rbaker@handelandhaydn.org.

Winners of the Candace MacMillen Achtmeyer Award

• 2010 Lisa Barone

  Lisa Barone is a 2010 graduate of Methuen High School (winner of the School Committee’s SOAR award in Performing Arts), and has been a VAP High School Soloist for four years. She was a member of the Young Women’s Chorus in grades 9-11, studying voice and vocal chamber music with Barbara Winchester at New England Conservatory, and piano with Bert Yocom. Lisa is the 2nd place winner of the Harvard Musical Association High School Competition and was accepted as a mezzo-soprano in the Massachusetts All-State
  Chorus during 2008-2010.

  She has been accepted to sing at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) Young Artists Vocal Program July 5 – August 14 and will enter the Manhattan School of Music as a voice major in the fall.

• 2009 Demeyer Lauture, Jr. & Rebekah Priestly

  Demeyer Lauture, Jr. is a 2009 graduate of Brockton High School, studying voice with Carolyn Kingston, Thomas Oesterling and piano with Bert Yocom. He joined VAP Soloists in 2006, sang in the Young Men's Chorus and the MMEA All-State Chorus from 2007-2009 and the 2009 MMEA All-Eastern Division Chorus. Demeyer is a sophomore at Berklee School of Music.

  Rebekah Priestly joined VAP as a 6th grader in Youth Chorus; she is the youngest member to enter both Young Women's Chorus and VAP Soloists as an 8th grader in 2005. Becky studied voice with Clara Sandler at NEC and Angela Gooch at Walnut Hill School. She is a 2009 graduate of the Walnut Hill School and is a sophomore at the Eastman School of Music studying with Rita Shane as a voice major.

• 2008 Evangelyna Etienne & Deborah Pierre

  Evangelyna Etienne is a 2008 graduate of Saugus High School, studying voice and vocal chamber music with Barbara Winchester at NEC, and piano with Bert Yocom. She joined VAP at age 10 performing with Handel and Haydn Singers, Youth Chorus, and Young Women’s Chorus. Evangelyna was named an “Outstanding Graduating Senior” by the NEC Preparatory Division Voice Department. She is currently a junior at Gordon College on a full scholarship (music education major, business minor). In spring 2010, Evangelyna appeared in two Gordon College productions, as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel and the Third Lady in The Magic Flute. She attended the Franco-American Vocal Academy in the summer of 2010.

  Deborah Pierre is a 2008 graduate of Classical High, Lynn, studying voice with Carolyn Kingston, piano with Sarah Koonce, and sang in the Society’s Youth Chorus (she joined in 7th grade) and Young Women’s Chorus. Deborah sang in the 2008 Massachusetts All-State Festival Chorus and is currently a junior at Berklee College of Music studying composition and vocal performance.

• 2007 Wenqian Wang

  Wenqian (Wendy) Wang has studied voice with Barbara Winchester and Sahar Hassan at NEC, theory with Rodney Lister, and piano with Sarah Koonce. Ms. Wang entered VAP in 7th grade with the Society's Youth Chorus and is also a member of the Young Women's Chorus; she has been a VAP Soloist from 2005-2007. Wendy is the first place winner of the 2007 NEC High School Vocal Competition, and 3rd place winner of the Harvard Musical Association Competition. She was also featured as a performer on the prestigious “From the Top” National Public Radio show in 2006. Ms. Wang is a 2007 graduate of the Boston Latin School and was the 2008 winner of the Barbara Maze Award. Wendy will graduate from the dual degree program at Harvard/New England Conservatory with a degree in sociology (Harvard '11) and vocal performance (NEC '12).

• 2006 Kelsey Nagel

  Kelsey Nagel is a graduate of Melrose High School and graduated from University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2010. Ms. Nagel joined the Society's Youth Chorus in seventh grade and has been a member of the Young Women's Chorus for four years. Kelsey entered the VAP Soloist program in her junior year, studying voice and vocal chamber music with Barbara Winchester and piano with Sharon Lee and Sarah Koonce.

• 2005 Meredith Lustig

  Meredith Lustig was in VAP from 2001-2005 as a Young Women's Chorus member and a VAP Soloist from 2002-2004, studying with Clara Sandler at NEC and Angela Gooch at Walnut Hill School. She is a graduate of the Walnut Hill School and earned her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from the Juilliard School (as a student of Edith Bers) this May. Meredith won the 2005 Candace MacMillen Achtmeyer Award, and was a recipient of the Bel Canto Institute Award and New York Opera Project Award in 2006. She is currently enrolled in the master's degree program at Juilliard for vocal performance.

• 2004 Jenette (Persenaire) Bourckel

  Jenette (Persenaire) Bourckel is a 2004 graduate of Classical High School, Lynn and participated in VAP from 2001-2004. She studied voice with Clara Sandler and music theory for three years, and vocal chamber music for two seasons. She also sang in the H and H Young Women's Chorus, and NEC Youth Chorale, as well as the 2004 Massachusetts All-State Chorus. Jenette graduated from Wheaton College/Conservatory of Music with a voice major and elective studies in Christian Education. She had a leading role in Weill's Down in the Valley and sang with the Wheaton Concert Choir at the National ACDA convention in Miami this past spring.

• 2003 Tamar Ayrikyan & Jonathan Marenco

  Tamar Ayrikyan is a member of the class of 2003 of English High School, Lynn and has studied voice and chamber music with Barbara Winchester in VAP at NEC from Janurary 2001 through spring, 2003. She also took theory and vocal chamber music, and was a member of the Society's Young Women's Chorus. Tamar sang in the Northeast Senior District and All-State Choruses in 2003, as well as the NATS Voice Competition in February. She also performed in the "Youth Tribute Concert in Celebration of Aram Khachaturian on his Centennial" last March at NEC. Ms. Ayrikyan graduated last June from Harvard University with a degree in Government. She will travel to Nagorno Karabakh (Armenia/Azerbaijan) on a fellowship to conduct human rights work. Tamar plans to apply to graduate or law school in a few years.

  Jonathan Marenco graduated from Melrose High School in June of 2003 and has been in VAP since September, 1996, beginning as a Youth Chorus member for three years. During his four years at NEC, Jonathan has studied voice with Gerald Gray and Jonathan Barnhart, theory and vocal chamber music. He plays guitar and also studied piano with Dorothy Travis. Jonathan sang in the Senior District and All-State Choruses in 2003. Mr. Marenco plans to attend the University of Massachusetts, Lowell as a music studies and performance major.

• 2002 Sarah Mawn

  Sarah is currently music director at Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton, MA, where she teaches voice, chorus, and band. Sarah earned dual music performance and music education degrees in 2006, and a M.M. in vocal performance from University of Southern Maine, Gorham, where she studied voice with Ellen Chickering. She was a Young Artist with the PORTopera program from 2006-2009. She has won numerous awards to encourage her career, including the Portland Rossini Club's Rand Award and the Lillian Nordica Award. Sarah was the first person to win both Handel and Haydn Society's Achtmeyer Award and the Society's Maze Award. Sarah participated in VAP and the Young Women's Chorus for three years (1999-2002) and sang in the Massachusetts All-State Chorus as a senior.

• 2001 Christine Duncan

  Christine Duncan is a 2001 graduate of the Parker Charter School. During her seven years in VAP (1994-2001), Christine sang with the Youth Chorus, Young Women's Chorus, NEC Youth Chorale, and High School Soloists, studying voice with Janice Giampa and chamber music at New England Conservatory. She is the first recipient of the Vocal Apprentice award. Christine was a Development Assistant for the Society during 2006-2007 and traveled throughout Europe this past summer, singing with the Village Harmony Choir. She graduated in 2005 from Connecticut College as music major with a concentration in vocal performance. In 2004, she received an internship in Madrid to sing and direct two community choruses as part of the Center for International Studies and Liberal Arts certificate program. Christine also earned a M.M. in vocal performance from Longy School of Music, where she studied with Jayne West.