Music degree graduate heads straight for the top

After earning her music degree from Western in May, Amanda Forker had the confidence, ambition and talent to head straight for Broadway where she’s already started auditioning for top shows.

“It takes a hundred nos to receive a yes,” said Forker, whose degree in classical music focuses on vocal performance. Forker has only just begun the process of landing a coveted gig on the great white way, but said the music courses at Western gave her the tools that enabled her to start a job search from the top.

“The faculty has a lot of wisdom to pass on about their own experience,” she said. “We were trained to always be prepared at an audition, rehearsal or performance.”

Forker, the recipient of the School Master’s Special Scholarship while a WCSU student, said that earning the award was also a boost to her confidence.

"Receiving the scholarship was such an honor and it made me want to perform as well as I could both musically and academically. I wanted to make me, my family and especially my donor proud. The scholarship made me feel that I was an important part of the music community at WCSU.”