Stencia Bastien 鈥23 won the 16th annual Sing It to the Heights competition for her performance of 鈥淟isten鈥 by Beyonc茅.

Stencia Bastien

Stencia Bastien '23 won the 2020 Sing It to the Heights competition. (Yiting Chen)

The 鈥淎merican Idol鈥-style singing competition raises funds for the music program at Saint Columbkille Partnership School, a Catholic elementary school in Brighton operated by Saint Columbkille Parish, the Archdiocese of Boston, and 涩里番下载. This year鈥檚 event, held in Robsham Theater on February 25, yielded $3,629.

Proceeds from previous Sing It to the Heights competitions have made it possible for Saint Col's to establish and sustain a music program for K-8 students, purchase musical instruments, and provide free music lessons to students.

This year鈥檚 judges were St. Ignatius Church Associate Pastor Donald MacMillan, S.J., Cesar Muziotti, S.J., and School of Theology and Ministry student Eric Immel, S.J.

Bastien, one of 10 涩里番下载 students selected to participate after an auditioning process, is a marketing major in the Carroll School of Management. Never having been trained in singing, she was very nervous about performing in front of a large crowd.

鈥淒uring the competition I was really scared that I would forget the lyrics,鈥 said Bastien, 鈥渂ut my friends in the crowd helped me to calm down and just feel the music.鈥

The other undergraduates competing this year were Korinne Arenas 鈥22 (Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, communication major), Tommy Boyce 鈥21 (Carroll School of Management, marketing and business analytics), Sophia Gardner 鈥22 (Carroll School, information systems, accounting for finance and consulting), Francesca Giangiulio 鈥23 (Morrissey College, English, theater, art history), Kaitlin Meeks 鈥20 (Morrissey College, physics), Jack Peterson 鈥20 (Morrissey College, biology and economics), Will Riley 鈥21 (Morrissey College, philosophy), Max Schenkel 鈥22 (Morrisey College, neuroscience, studio art, finance minor), and A.J. Singh 鈥23 (Carroll School, finance and computer science). Singh and Meeks came in second place and third place, respectively.

Choir students from Saint Columbkille Partnership School performed during the concert, as did last year鈥檚 winner, Tate Haynes 鈥21.

Sing It to the Heights is sponsored by the Emerging Leader Program, Robsham Theater, the Office of Governmental and Community Affairs, and the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Christine Balquist | University Communications | March 2020