Westover Senior Awarded College Music Scholarship

Middlebury, Connecticut – Sophia Lanman, a member of Westover School’s Class of 2014 who also studies at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division as a voice student, has been awarded the 2014 Churchill Family Scholarship after taking part in an April 5th vocal performance competition organized by Musica de Filia, a Portland, Maine-based all-female choir program.

A resident of Scarborough, Maine, Ms. Lanman received the $1,000 scholarship after placing first among five voice students who participated in the competition. Each student was asked to sing four pieces. The Churchill Family Scholarship Fund underwrites the annual scholarship for a Maine high school senior girl or boy who plans to pursue a college degree in vocal music education or performance.

“I will be going to McGill University’s Schulich School of Music next year for vocal performance” Ms. Lanman said. “I would like to have a career that involves performance and teaching.”

Ms. Lanman is the Second Head of Westover’s Glee Club and is the Senior Head of Overtones, one of Westover’s two a cappella groups. She has also been an active member of the School’s theater program; her roles have included Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical, Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, for which she was nominated for a Halo Award, Wendy in Peter Pan, and Edith in Blithe Spirit.

Robert Havery, Chair of Westover’s Arts Department and an instructor of Music and Humanities courses, said, “Sophia is one of those people for whom music is her lifeblood. When you see Sophia singing or conducting a sectional rehearsal for Glee Club or an Overtones rehearsal, you know that she is in her element. She works hard at what she does, but it is the type of work that is play. She was a shy and retiring student when she entered Westover as a freshman. Each year she has made great strides in ability and confidence. Sophia is talented and dedicated, and has been a big, big asset for music at Westover.”

Created in 2004 in memory of music educators Luther and Priscilla Churchill, the Churchill Family Scholarship Fund is supported through private and corporate donations and special events.

The Musica de Filia program was founded in 1997 and directed by Jaye Churchill. The goal of Musica de Filia is to provide superb choral performance training and performance opportunities for more than 200 girls and women. They learn and perform a wide variety of choral music styles, including classical, Broadway, holiday, sacred, Gospel, traditional and contemporary American and foreign language choral music.

Westover is a selective boarding and day school in Middlebury, Connecticut, with 205 students in grades 9-12 from 17 states and 20 countries. The School offers its students more than 20 Advanced Placement courses as well as signature programs in science, engineering, art history, and music.