Salem Tenor has the Voice

Craig Simonetti of Salem, a senior classical voice performance major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been awarded first place in the “College Musical Theater” division of the National Association of Teachers of Singing annual competition.

After succeeding in several rigorous earlier rounds, Simonetti performed “Lonely House” from Street Scene by Kurt Weill during the final competition held Nov. 14 in Boston.

The competition provides students with opportunities to perform and receive written feedback about their performance, which Simonetti said is especially valuable as he prepares to apply to several schools for graduate study in music performance, including New England Conservatory and Boston Conservatory.

“Almost all of the judges at finals are professors at the graduate schools I am applying to, so I got a lot of exposure and praise from those people, while also getting a lot of useful feedback on my singing/acting from highly qualified people with objective opinions,” said Simonetti.

Simonetti, a tenor, is a student of UMass Amherst music professor William Hite and sings in Chamber Choir, Opera Workshop, a barbershop quartet, and a musical theater class. He is also director of the a cappella group, The Hexachords.