After a long process of auditions Wenceslas Ostasenka (A.k.a. Vinny) has been awarded one of the worlds most sought after Vocal and Operatic Scholarships to continue his vocal studies at Boston’s New England Conservatory.

With only a very limited number of vocal scholarships given in any year it is unusual for such a young singer at 18 to be awarded a place on scholarship which is competed for worldwide. 

Vinny studied voice for 3 years at the Academy whilst studying at Wilson’s Hospital School at Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. He commuted on a weekly basis to take lessons at the Academy each Wednesday evening and also to sing with the “Tullamore Academy Chamber Choir” who recently kicked off their performance schedule as “National Choir of the Year 2012” by standing in for the morning Eucharist in place of the famous St Patrick’s Cathedral Choir in Dublin; and came 2nd place out of over 400 choirs in RTE Lyric FM's "Choirs for Christmas" choral competition.

It was always Vinnys’ ambition to study voice in a top international university after completing his leaving certificate. In order to gain access to these colleges there is a long and arduous process of recording auditions, exams and dissertations which eventually lead to live auditions and interviews with faculty heads. After this lengthy audition process Vinny eventually percolated through and was awarded a scholarship by New England Conservatory.

The College Dean Tom Novak wrote “I understand from the Director of Admissions that you had an excellent audition recently at NEC, so I wanted to offer my personal congratulations to you! Such notification from the Admissions Office is reserved for a very limited number of applicants, so you should be very proud of such an accomplishment.  As you may know, we are making every effort to provide a rich and meaningful experience for young singers, so I hope that you are seriously considering the Conservatory as the next step in your musical education”

The staff and friends at the Academy wish all the very best to Vinny in what looks to be a very bright international singing career ahead for him.