From a very young age, “Wynston, will you sing for me?” was a common request of my grandmother “Kissy”. Thanks to a church play, “Possum Pot Pie” was what I regularly sang reply.
When I was 11, I started voice and piano lessons with Amanda Pauley. I had taken some lessons before, but it was with Amanda that I discovered Ralph Vaughan William’s “The Vagabond” and got hooked on classical singing. Afterwards, I took that song to the classical NATS in 2019 and won my room. It was also with Mrs. Amanda that my love for Music Theory and chordal analysis began.
In 2023 received my Associates in Fine Arts – Music from Mitchell Community College. Mitchell is one of the very few community colleges in North Carolina with a NASM accredited school of music. While there, I was part of the 130 person NCADA All Collegiate Festival Chorus that performed in Duke Chapel. My favorite song I learned there was Verdi’s “O Tu Palermo” from I vespri siciliani. At Mitchell I also received the Excellence in Music award.
Since Fall of 2023, I have been studying as a Bass-Baritone at University of North Carolina School of the Arts under Professor Glenn Siebert. Here, I have played lead role in the world premier of a scene from Kane by Barrett Bailey.
Currently, I am studying in hopes of becoming a music minister. Why, with such a vast musical heritage would the church resort to ugly pop songs? Other than music, in my spare time I enjoy woodworking and thinking through theological and philosophical ideas.