Armstrong High School Grad Wins $10K Singing Competition
Throughout Sara Shiff’s life, music has been a noteworthy presence.
Yes, she can play the piano. But it’s on stage where this Princeton University senior from Plymouth really shines, using the strength of her vocal cords.
“Growing up I wanted to go on ‘American Idol’ or ‘The Voice’ or one of those shows,” said Shiff, while she was back in town from New Jersey during Thanksgiving break. “I wanted to be on Broadway and do film and be in movies, and that led me to doing musical theater in middle school.”
CCX News first met Shiff in 2019 when she was a standout student at Armstrong High School. She had just won a state award for classical music as a junior.
“These competitions I’m doing are really helpful for me to see if I could end up making it,” she said in 2019.
Today, she’s still doing those competitions.
In October, she came back to Minnesota to take part in an all-star reunion of the “Minnesota Sings” vocal competition. The competition put her up against a slew of other singers who’ve placed high during the 10-year history of the event.
“After the first rehearsal I asked them ‘hey, can I sing without a microphone?’ And they were like, ‘why would you want to do that, are you sure?’ And I was like, ‘yeah, I’ll try that,'” Shiff said.
She used her powerful voice to belt out the song “Quando Me’n Vo” from the opera “La Bohème.”
The performance won her first place, which included a $10,000 prize.
“They called my name and I was shocked,” she said. “In that moment I was like, ‘whoa. Wow, this money is going to make a really big difference.'”
Sara Shiff stands with her parents after winning the Minnesota Sings competition.
Shiff has certainly come a long way from her days at Armstrong, but she credits the Robbinsdale Area School District with her success.
“The Robbinsdale School District has one of the best theater and choral programs in the state, and I know that the choral program is one of the best in the country,” Shiff said.
She calls Armstrong a nurturing and artistic environment with teachers such who cared. She specifically named Stephanie Trump and Jenny Lovitt as teachers who helped her get to the level she’s at today, performing with the likes of the Princeton University Orchestra.
“Not every school has that,” Shiff said, referring to the resources she had at Armstrong. “And that’s something to be very grateful for.”
Sara will graduate from Princeton in the spring. She plans to use the prize money from the Minnesota Sings competition to apply for graduate school programs. She plans to pursue a masters in opera and classical voice.
Sara Shiff stands with Michael Pratt, conductor of the Princeton University Orchestra, following a recent performance at Richardson Auditorium in New Jersey.
