Local
Teen to Represent East-Central Maine in Statewide Talent Search
A local Penobscot county student has been
recently selected to represent East-Central Maine in a statewide talent search
to find Maine’s best high school solo artist.
17-year-old Kristyn Murphy, senior at John Bapst Memorial High School,
will be competing in a 2:00pm talent showcase in Portland at the McAuley
Performing Arts Center on January 13.
Murphy is one of 21 contestants competing for this prestigious title and
is the only performer from the East-Central area.
“Half of the artists will be
competing on January 6th while the rest of us will be performing on
the 13th,” explained Murphy, “The finals are set for February 10th.”
The competition, organized by
Portland based Reindeer Records, is a very structured, intense, and no-nonsense
competition.
"Every
performer will face several panels of judges who evaluate pretty much
everything about their act, from their promotion materials to their live
show," said Executive Producer Louis Philippe, "It's not just about
an artist's talent, it's about their professional potential, aptitude, acumen
and ability to be stars."
For 23 consecutive years Reindeer
Records has sought out the best rock bands in the state of Maine with their
Rock-Off competition. Many local bands
that have reached success have built upon their Rock-Off experiences including
Howie Day, Jeremiah Freed and Rustic Overtones.
RO4UNO is Reindeer Records first ever competition for solo artist and
the company is very excited to once again have MaineToday.com as a media
sponsor.
“It is an honor to be able to
represent the area and my school in this competition,” said Murphy, “I am
really excited to perform and to meet the other contestants.”
Murphy, who has been performing
around Maine and the greater New England Area since the age of eight and has
just completed a series of performances around the Bangor area. The young soprano, who sings mostly classical
music, has had surprising appeal with the younger generations. “After listening to Kristyn’s music I
thoroughly liked it, which is unusual as I normally dislike opera and classical
music,” was the comment of a Hermon High School student.
At the age of 13 Murphy recorded her
first CD as a member of a quartet. Two years later she recorded her first solo
album, To The Glory of God, which has
sold in England, Finland, Canada, Japan and the United States. To The
Glory of God is available as a special order from Bull Moose, Music Bar, CD
Authority and Mainly Acapella, through worldwide music distributor Super D
One-Stop. The album is also available from www.cdbaby.com [1] and all good digital download sites
including iTunes and Rhapsody.
Murphy encourages people who can
travel to the Portland area to join her at the January 13th talent
showcase. Individuals can also view
artist profile pages and listen to audio samples of the contestants by logging
onto www.mainetoday.com [2]
and following the link to RO4UNO .
An online poll is also available for listeners to vote for their
favorite singer. Of course, Kristyn
hopes that you will support her music with your vote.