TERRE HAUTE —
Soon, the domed ceiling of Carnegie Hall and the archway in the Hayes family kitchen will share a special connection.
Both will have echoed with Samantha Hayes’ dreams.
The girl who serenaded her parents and brothers after family dinners will sing in America’s most revered music forum, Carnegie Hall, next month. Hayes was selected to participate in the 2012 American High School Honors Performance Series concert Feb. 12 inside that 120-year-old New York City landmark.
Carnegie Hall debuts validated the singing careers of Judy Garland, Bob Dylan, Liza Minelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Maria Callas, and The Beatles. In the Feb. 12 concert, Hayes won’t be alone in the spotlight. She’ll sing alongside other talented high schoolers from all corners of North America and a few foreign countries in the series’ Honor Choir. Still, within that elite ensemble, the event offers Hayes a grand opportunity to do what she enjoys — entertaining an audience.
Stage fright has never plagued the 17-year-old Terre Haute South Vigo High School senior. As a youngster, Hayes embraced parts in school plays and Christmas programs at her church, Centenary United Methodist. “I was always the one who was actually singing the songs, and not mumbling,” she recalled, laughing.
Her poise was apparent at home, too. “A lot of funny things happened around our dinner table,” said her dad, Tim Hayes. “A lot of times, she would stand up and be the entertainment.”
The gumption to stand up and perform is a family trait. Tim, an attorney, began doing stand-up comedy in his college days and continued his routine for years. His wife, Gail, an advertising writer, provides piano accompaniment for their daughter’s vocal rehearsals. Samantha joined the Terre Haute Children’s Choir as a third-grader, studied piano, landed roles in Children’s Theatre of Terre Haute and Community Theatre of Terre Haute productions, played bassoon in school bands, sang in her school choirs, learned to dance at the Academy of Dance, and honed her vocal abilities under coaches from Indiana State University.
Now, she aspires to become a theater performer — blending her singing, acting and dancing skills.
“Eventually, I could live in New York and be an actress,” Hayes said, with an infectious smile.
A big step toward that goal is college, and Hayes has applied to theater programs at eight different universities. Most accept between a dozen and 15 new students annually from a field of more than 100 applicants. “They’re very competitive,” she said.
Theatrical singing and choir singing differ greatly. At Carnegie Hall, Hayes will perform with a large group. They must blend “as 50 people with one voice, whereas in musical theater, you want to stand out,” explained Kara Claybrook, Hayes’ vocal coach and an instructor at the Indiana State University Community Music Center.
In both formats, Hayes shines. As a choir member, she sings as an alto, the second-highest tier of the vocal range, just below soprano. Because female sopranos are more plentiful, her voice gives her a niche. “That makes her sort of a choir director’s dream,” Claybrook said.
On stage in plays, Hayes “is a very expressive performer,” Claybrook said. In theatrical singing, “You have to have lots of personality and lots of confidence, because there’s a lot of hard knocks involved.”
Hayes understands the need for tenacity. Her dad reminded Samantha that in his comedy act, jokes sometimes yielded no laughs. And, indeed, Samantha once got a catch in her voice during a performance at South. She started to sing, and no sound came out, initially. She paused, started again, and kept on going.
“She handled that really well, at least publicly,” Tim said, grinning at his daughter. (A few tears fell at home.) “When things don’t go as planned, you do your best and move on,” he added. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t good. It’s just that when bad things happen, and they will, you have to move on.”
She overcame another hurdle, when Hayes used vocal therapy to heal nodules on her vocal cords. “After that, I was so determined to get better,” she said. That therapy also wound up teaching her how to better project and protect her voice.
Encouragement from her family — which includes Tim, Gail and brothers Jacob and Will — as well as numerous teachers, coaches, directors and friends has helped. Her mom, Samantha said, has simply “done everything.” That includes playing piano while Samantha rehearses vocal parts for plays or concerts. “She’s my built in accompaniment,” Hayes said. “I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Their duets occasionally are purely recreational. Sometimes, when the guys are elsewhere and the girls have the house to themselves, they’ll dig out songbooks and sheet music, and play and sing for an audience of none. “It’s special,” Samantha said of those moments. “And I think that’s when I sing my best, when nobody else is listening and I don’t have to worry about how I sound. I’m just having fun with my mom.”
Her mother helped instill a sense of independence, which Samantha will need each time she walks on stage at Carnegie Hall, in college and beyond. “She’s also given me tools to do some of these things on my own now,” Hayes said. “I will be calling her a lot.”
As Hayes began pondering her college and job path, her mother offered support. “I just told her, this was the time to just try it,” Gail said, “because I wouldn’t want her to be sorry later, if she didn’t try, and wonder.”
Samantha has no hesitance about her plans. She’s ready. “I’m not that person who just woke up one morning and said, ‘This is what I’ve wanted to do,’ because I’ve worked so hard for this,” Hayes said.
That work ethic fits neatly into the old joke where a visitor to the Big Apple asks a local how to get to Carnegie Hall. “Practice,” the New Yorker answers.
Her practice will bring her entire family to visit New York, where Samantha will participate in five days of rehearsals, seminars, sound checks, sight-seeing, taking in a Broadway show, and the concert itself. The family is never far from her thoughts.
A plaque Gail bought several years ago is a constant reminder for Samantha. “It hangs by her bedroom door, so she sees it before she leaves each day,” Gail explained. She found the plaque while shopping in Chicago, where they watched the musical “Wicked.”
It reads, “In a world where you can be anything, be yourself.”
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
Valley Life
Related Photos
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Time to shine: Samantha Hayes poses on the stage in the Center for the Performing and Fine Arts on the Indiana State University campus Tuesday evening. She takes lessons there from her voice instructor Kara Claybrook. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
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Samantha Hayes
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Light moment: Samantha Hayes and her voice instructor Kara Claybrook share a laugh during lessons. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
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Mom, accompanist, biggest fan: Gail Hayes provides the piano while Samantha practices her piece and voice instructor Kara Claybrook listens. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
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Selections: Samantha Hayes and her voice instructor Kara Claybrook look over Hayes' selection of music. (Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis)
Discussion
Born to perform: Terre Haute South senior to sing in Carnegie Hall
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