U-M-Flint student selected to work with 'the best'

U-M-Flint sophomore Mary Palmer is one of only 10 students selected internationally to study voice at the prestigious Heifetz International Music Institute this summer in Wolfeboro, N.H.

(Photo courtesy Mary Palmer)

"Actually getting accepted was amazing. I neverthought that I would be one of 10 students at the institution; it's a little intimidating now that I'm here, but I'm here to better myself," Palmer said earlier this summer. "It's such an honor to be working with the best, especially just being a young girl from a small town."

The Heifetz institute is a program for serious and talented young artists. For six weeks during the summer, 60 young musicians and more than 20 world-famous artists and teachers gather on the campus of the Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro.

The voice program at Heifetz offers a wide spectrum of training for singers.

It included six weeks of vigorous classical training including: five one-hour voice lessons per week with two of the top sopranos in the world today; workshops in other styles like jazz and musical theater; classes in composition and movement, and the opportunity to work on secondary instruments like piano and strings, Palmer says.

Palmer, who is from Lapeer, received support from a number of organizations and businesses in and around Lapeer County, including U-M-Flint.

"A few professors at the University have so much passion for music that it makes me strive for the passion that they have. I want the obsession that they possess," Palmer says.

She is working toward a bachelor of arts in music voice performance with the help of voice instructor Maureen Carlson, adjunct instructor for voice performance, and Lois Alexander, chair of the Music Department and Palmer's adviser.