Music major receives Opera Grand Rapids Betty Van Andel Scholarship

Calvin music major Fitah Rasendrahasina is the recipient of the Betty Van Andel Scholarship-an annual award given to an exceptional student of music from the greater Grand Rapids area. The 2011 scholarship totaled $2,500, the largest amount awarded by Opera Grand Rapids this year.

Rasendrahasina is the sole undergraduate in the opera company. This past February, singing from the stage of the three-tiered, 2,400-seat DeVos Performance Hall without the aid of a microphone, he offered the opening vocal in Opera Grand Rapids' production of Giacomo Puccini's 'Manon Lescaut.'

"It's amazing how the human voice works, filling that huge auditorium," said Rasendrahasina.

"He, of course, can project very, very well," said Charsie Sawyer, professor of music at Calvin. "He knows how to support his tones. Good tenors are hard to find, so he just has a wonderful God-given talent."

Rasendrahasina will be entering his senior year at Calvin this fall. After graduation, he says he could see himself with Opera Grand Rapids, the opera in Chicago, maybe even in Europe. Sawyer says he has the potential to have a wonderful career ahead of him.

"Music is in his fiber, his bloodstream, in his veins," said Sawyer. "He is one singer around who sings from his soul."

-end-

Matt Kucinski
Media Relations Manager
Calvin College
msk23@calvin.edu
616.526.8935 (office)
616.307.7429 (cell)
Received on Thu Jun 2 09:01:16 2011