Catawba College student TyNia Rene' Brandon of Charlotte, who was crowned Miss Queen City 2013 in January, will compete for the title of Miss North Carolina June 14-22 in Raleigh.
TyNia, the daughter of Tyrone and Sharon Brandon, is a senior at Catawba, pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Musical Theatre. During the Miss Queen City Pageant, she sang an Italian aria entitled "Star Vichino" and won the talent portion of the pageant.
TyNia will join other young women from across the state at the state pageant. That competition includes a week long preliminary round of swimsuit, talent and evening gown competition, as well as a private interview. During the interview session, the contestants are expected to have knowledge about current affairs and be able to express their opinions about a newsworthy topic. The contestants will also need to be able to discuss their platform choice, and how it relates to the Miss America platform, "Children's Miracle Network." The statewide competition concludes with the crowning Miss North Carolina 2013 in the evening on June 22.
Since classes and exams concluded at Catawba in May, TyNia has been busy in rehearsals and preparing her wardrobe for the variousEvents associated with the competition. For the evening gown competition, she plans to wear a fully stoned champagne evening gown by Tony Bowls.
At the state pageant, she plans to sing an Italian aria by Puccini, "O Mio Babbino Caro" during the talent competition. She wants to nail her performance.
"This is one of Puccini's most famous arias and definitely my favorite. The song is beautiful and fits my voice really well," TyNia said. "Christina Pier is my voice teacher at Catawba and has been a huge help in continuing to perfect my performance. She's the best voice teacher anyone could ask for."
The 20-year-old TyNia is also looking forward to the exposure that the state competition will garner for her platform, Inspire the Fire.
TyNia has partnered with Inspire the Fire of Charlotte, a community-based organization founded by Catawba College alumnus Dennis Reed '06 that encourages and enables children and teens to express themselves through the arts. In addition to song and dance performances, this organization conducts a weeklong camp each summer called "The Experience." That camp allows the participants to study creative movement, vocal expression or stage and set design and culminates with a performance that displays the skills gained throughout the week. "The Experience" has grown to include over 300 young people from all around Charlotte. TyNia has been involved with Inspire the Fire for the past three years as a contributor to the creative movement and vocal part of the camp, as well as performing with the group.
TyNia began her voice training at the age of eight. She performed with the Charlotte Children's Choir, an auditioned community-based organization, for 10 years, under the direction of Sandy Holland. She continues to study voice while attending college, and has been featured in various musical performances.
At Catawba, TyNia has been involved in several theatre productions, including the 2012 production of the musical, "Legally Blonde." She and three other students also performed a dance at the October 2012 inauguration of Catawba's 23rd President Brien Lewis.
Fans and supporters of TyNia have an opportunity to vote for her through the Triangle's News14 website or Facebook page. The contestant with the most votes on the News 14 website or Facebook will have the opportunity to move on with the top ten as the 11th contestant.
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