UCI and Rotary Honor 12 Young Singers of Year

Twelve singers from Southland high schools were declared winners in the fourth annual Young Singer of the Year Competition sponsored by UC Irvine and Rotary International this weekend at UCI.

Gold, silver and bronze medalists received $300, $200 and $100, respectively, in each of four categories: female classical, male classical, female semiclassical and male semiclassical.

Winners and their high school affiliations in each division were:

--Female Classical: first place--tie between Shelly Wang, 12th grade at Buena Park High School, and Laurie Quinn, 12th grade at Wilson High School, Long Beach (each received $300); third place--June Ou, 12th grade at Fountain Valley High School.

--Male classical: first place--Bruce Sledge, 12th grade, El Modena High School; second--John Byun, 12th grade, Fountain Valley; third--Guter Munoz, 12th grade, Wilson High School.

--Female Semiclassical: first--Julie Seaborn, 12th grade, Los Alamitos High School of the Performing Arts; second--Jennifer Brennan, 11th grade, Ocean View High School; third--Elizabeth Greene, 11th grade, Villa Park High School.

--Male Semiclassical: first: Tom Cheeks, 12th grade, Lakewood High; second--Jim Fox, 12th grade, Wilson High; third--Ken Wilson, 12th grade, Dana Hills High School.

Winners were selected from among 200 entrants from high schools in Orange County, Long Beach and Lakewood-Artesia.

Judge for the finals was Maurice Allard, former music director of the Master Chorale of Orange County. Judges for the semifinals, held Saturday, were Joseph B. Huszti, head of the choral-vocal deparment at UCI, and Sheridan Ball, director of choral activities at Cypress College.

Prize money was raised by entry fees paid by local Rotary clubs, which also raised money for 10 singers in an at-large sponsorship.