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JANUARY 2020 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Art & Entertainment | 17
Young Sandy Springs cousins win the right to sing at Carnegie Hall
Sarah Serena Thompson,
right, and Phoebe Rose
Claeys, below, sing
at Carnegie Hall.
AMERICAN PROTEGE INTERNATIONAL
VOCAL COMPETITION/
CARNEGIE HALL
BY JUDITH SCHONBAK
What does it feel like for a singer to step onto the
stage to perform in Carnegie Hall? Two young cousins
from Sandy Springs set foot in the historic New York City
venue for the first time to do just that in mid-December.
Phoebe Rose Claeys, 8, and Sarah Serena Thompson,
12, were winners in the 2019 American Protege Interna
tional Vocal Competition. Winners in the competition
won the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall.
Claeys admitted to being a little frightened at first as
she looked out at all the people in the iconic recital hall.
“But once I started singing, I was into the music. It was
fun,” she said. She followed advice from the girls’ long
time instructor Adriana van Rensburg not to get distract
ed by the three crystal chandeliers. “She knows I like
sparkly things,” added Claeys.
Thompson said she was pretty calm. “The emcee gave me
good advice. ‘You’ve already won. Just have fun and enjoy
singing in this beautiful hall,' he said.”
The performances were held in Weill Recital Hall, one of
three performance spaces in the 128-year-old Carnegie Hall,
a world-renowned classic music venue.
Claeys, who performed on Dec. 14, chose “Matchmaker” from the musical “Fiddler on
the Roof.”
The following day, Thompson took the stage to perform “I Could Have Danced All Night”
from “My Fair Lady.”
Van Rensburg accompanied both of them on the piano.
The cousins had in the audience a proud contingent of family members from Atlanta
supporting them and cheering them on.
“With a full schedule of lessons and performances, driving has always been a family af
fair,” said Caroline Claeys Thompson, Serena’s mother. “We are lucky to have so much sup
port.” She and her husband Mark share transportation duties with the cousins’ grandpar
ents, Suzanne and Robert Claeys and Mark Thompson’s mother, Carole Parks. All were in
New York, along with Alice Sue Claeys, Phoebe Ros
es’s mother, for the big event.
It was the cousins’ first time entering the sing
ing competition, which is open to solo vocalists and
vocal groups of all ages, nationalities and countries.
Claeys captured first place in the Young Singers
group, ages 5-10, and Thompson took second place
in the Junior level, ages 11-14.
Singers from 14 countries applied for this year’s
competition: the United States, Canada, Costa Rica,
Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Geor
gia, China, India, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Ma
laysia and Australia, according to the competition’s
website. Taped auditions for the competition were
held in June.
She taught music for 26 years in Atlanta pub
lic schools working with elementary, middle, high
school and college-level students, and she also served as an adjunct professor of music
at Georgia State University. She teaches in her studio in Smyrna and privately in clients’
homes.
The journey to Carnegie Hall began some years ago when the girls were not yet in grade
school or even kindergarten. Claeys started taking piano lessons when she was 2 years old
and voice the following year. Thompson began her studies in piano and voice at age 4. They
both currently study classical and Broadway voice, piano and music theory with Van Rens
burg weekly. More recently, both young sopranos have taken an interest in opera singing.
The girls also take ballet lessons.
Over the course of the years, they have sung in a number of competitions in Atlanta and
elsewhere. It is an experience that Van Rensburg said is important in learning discipline, fo
cus and how to perform artistically.
“There is so much involved in teaching youngsters,” said Van Rensburg. “Even if they
have good motor skills, they do not have the emotional maturity to understand the nuanc
es and the artistry required.... Part of my work is to inspire them not only to play well, but
to see what music can be.”
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