Raincross Master Chorale Awards Scholarships to Young Sopranos

Raincross Master Chorale awarded $1,000 vocal music scholarships to two sopranos during its annual "Poetry in Motion" concert Sunday, May 18, at Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Tashyanna Simpson, 21, a graduating senior at La Sierra University, and Madison Jones, 17, a graduating senior at Poly High School, will receive the scholarships annually while pursuing vocal music degrees.

The concert also featured Rena Maduro, the 2020 scholarship recipient who was unable to perform during her award year due to pandemic restrictions.

Simpson performs with La Sierra's university choir, chamber singers and vocal chamber group UNITED. Her credits include roles in "Die Fledermaus," "Into the Woods" and Gounod's Roméo et Juliette. She will attend Indiana University Bloomington's Jacobs School of Music for graduate studies.

Jones, a member of Poly High School's choral ensembles including Chamber Singers, earned a spot in the Southern California Vocal Association honor choir. She will study music education at Cal State Fullerton this fall.

"She has the patience and empathy to be a success," said Kristen Walton, Jones' choir director.

Maduro, a North High School graduate who completed her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University, will begin a master's program in vocal performance. She has won several competitions, including the Los Angeles Music Center's Spotlight Competition, and recently received the Canterbury Concerts Committee's grand prize scholarship to study at Italy's Boccherini Institute.

"One of the delights of the spring concert is to hear how much the scholarship winners have studied and matured during their time in school," said Jonathan Osbrink, the chorale's artistic director.

Osbrink performed "The Roadside Fire," a Robert Louis Stevenson poem set to music.

The program included two compositions by Elliot Z. Levine, a Riverside composer who sang with the basses during the concert.

The annual scholarships support students majoring in vocal music in college and can be renewed for up to four years. The Raincross Master Chorale, a 45-voice ensemble directed by Osbrink, has awarded more than 45 scholarships to young singers from the Riverside area since the program's inception.