![\"Christian](\"https:\/\/cws.charlotte.edu\/backup-coaa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/807\/2024\/05\/Chorale_Christian.jpg\")
Christian Souza performing with the University Chorale under the direction of Dr. Jason Dungee.<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Dungee has been so amazing to work with. The level of care that he puts into the music, the amount of nuance that he gets from a large group, is so impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was a role in Carlisle Floyd\u2019s opera Susannah<\/em>, presented at the Halton Theater at Central Piedmont Community College, that put opera at the forefront of his aspirations. Since then, Souza has sung the toreador Escamillo in Carmen<\/em> and the hero Tamino in The Magic Flute<\/em> through the UNC Charlotte Opera Workshop program, participated in the International Lyric Academy opera training program, and toured with Opera Carolina\u2019s educational outreach program, Opera Xpress, which each year takes an opera production into local schools and community centers to perform for elementary students.<\/p>\n Ashley Lam, Opera Carolina\u2019s Senior Director for Learning, has heard Souza perform several times during his years at UNC Charlotte.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Christian came to the International Lyric Academy last summer, his voice had just exploded in all the best ways,\u201d she said. That led Lam to tap Souza for the Opera Xpress tour, a professional experience that offered him more than 30 paid performances this year.<\/p>\n His powerful tenor has also earned him top prizes in the Mid-Atlantic NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Student Auditions several years in a row. This spring, he received First Place in Male College Level Tenor, Baritone & Bass Voice category and a Judges Award at the state NATS competition and First Place in the Advanced Post-Baccalaureate Classical Tenor, Baritone, Bass division at the regional competition.<\/p>\n Souza will pursue a Master of Music in voice and was accepted into graduate school at Indiana University and the UNC School of the Arts (UNCSA). He has chosen to remain in North Carolina for the conservatory training at UNCSA, which accepts just eight students into its graduate vocal performance degree program.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very selective, so I\u2019m glad I made it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He has found the intimate size of the vocal program at UNC Charlotte to be one of its greatest assets.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause it\u2019s so small, you really get to work with everybody, which has been really invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n Though he entered the university as a business major, Souza is now looking forward to a career in music and hopes to build upon the many opportunities he had here at Charlotte.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019d like to perform full time. I love it.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThere are so many great opportunities as a result of being in Charlotte,\u201d says Christian Souza. \u201cSay yes to everything that you can.\u201d His openness to opportunity has placed Souza, who graduates this month with a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance, on stages and in spaces across the city and in competitions along the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":40081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_clt_a11y_last_scan":"1778693669","_clt_a11y_has_violations":"0","_clt_a11y_violations":"[]","_clt_a11y_suppressions":"","_clt_a11y_needs_validation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,43],"class_list":["post-40077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-coaa","tag-music"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Christian](\"https:\/\/cws.charlotte.edu\/backup-coaa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/807\/2024\/05\/OX_Christian1_0.png\")
Christian Souza performing for children in the OperaXpress production of <\/em>Los Coyotes y Las Conejas.<\/p>\n