Release Date: May 8, 2009
Amanda Nichole Newton selected as KSU's USG Outstanding Scholar
For media inquiries: Cheryl Anderson Brown, Director of Public Relations,
770-499-3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu
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KENNESAW, Ga.—Kennesaw State University School of Music student Amanda Nichole Newton of Gainesville, Ga., has been designated as the University System of Georgia Outstanding Scholar (Regents’ Scholar) for Kennesaw State. Newton is a double major in vocal performance and music education.
Newton was honored with Senate Resolution 382 and House Resolution 425 on Academic Recognition Day during a 2009 session of the Georgia General Assembly. Academic Recognition Day was created in 1987 as “a celebration of individual academic achievement and recognition of those students who exemplify that which is best about the University System of Georgia and its institutions.” Newton was one of just 34 students in Georgia’s university system to be honored.
Newton has performed with KSU’s Opera Theater in several productions including the Opera Gala, “The Yeoman of the Guard,” and this year’s role of Meg Page in “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Newton was the first place winner of the Georgia Music Teachers Association state voice auditions at the 2007 GMTA convention. This past year, she was selected to sing in master classes with world-renowned mezzo-soprano Nina Hinson, Metropolitan Opera star Erie Mills, and the most recorded mezzo-soprano, Jennifer Larmore. Newton joined KSU’s chapter of the Music Educators National Conference her freshman year and was subsequently elected vice president and then president. In addition, Newton is one of eight charter members of the School of Music’s new student advisory council and is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Scholars. She is the children’s choir director at Briarcliff United Methodist Church in Atlanta and has served as a resident assistant at Kennesaw State, all while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
“Being KSU’s 2009 Regents’ Scholar is truly an honor for me. KSU has been a positive learning environment to grow and excel in and a place where I have been given many opportunities. I have been fortunate to work with some of the most dedicated and talented professors, one of them being my Regents’ Scholar honoree, Dr. Russell Young.”
Russell Young, associate professor of opera and musical theater, admires both Newton’s dedication and vocal abilities. “Amanda has probably one of the strongest work ethics of any student I’ve worked with,” he said. “She has a passion and desire to succeed. To me, the combination of her work ethics and desire to succeed, along with having a natural ability, means she’ll be very successful.”
Newton’s post-graduation plans include earning a graduate degree in vocal performance and pursing aspirations of performing opera and teaching music at the collegiate level.
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A member of the 35-unit University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive, residential institution with a growing student population of more than 21,000 from 142 countries. The third-largest university in Georgia, Kennesaw State offers more than 65 graduate and undergraduate degrees, including new doctorates in education and business.
The KSU College of the Arts is one of only four Georgia institutions to have achieved full national accreditation for all of its arts programs.