Knoch junior picked to sing at Benedum
When Addy Albert, a Knoch High School junior, found out she’d won the Williams Sing-Off Competition in Pittsburgh, she did not even know that her mother had entered her in it.
But as part of the contest’s top prize, Addy, along with Central Catholic High School sophomore Colin Aikins, will sing at the Benedum Center for the First Night New Year’s Eve celebration.
Pittsburgh’s Williams Sing-Off Competition is in its sixth year with music legend Smokey Robinson being the guest judge for the second year.
Addy and Colin will perform as the opening act for the River City Brass performance at 7 p.m. The two will perform a duet of the song “The Prayer,” popularized by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. The two previously performed the duet at last summer’s Festa Italiana in Vandergrift.
Entering the contest was the idea of the pair’s mothers, who have been friends for more than 20 years.
Addy’s mother, Jodi, had filmed the performance in Vandergrift and submitted it after a friend told Colin’s mother, Maria, about the contest, she said.
“I was pretty much in shock,” Addy said, explaining that she didn’t even realize what winning the competition meant at first.
Addy is a member of the Beautyshop Quartet, the KHS Chamber Singers and the KHS choir and has plenty of experience in musical theater, she said.
Addy is used to performing as a character dictated by a script, and she sees new challenges to performing as herself, she said. But she thinks having Colin by her side should help with any nerves.
“It’s different because this is just me,” she said. “It’s nice to be singing with someone I’m childhood friends with.”
Addy has known Colin since they were born, and her singing ability was always well-known, Colin said. While he just began singing two years ago, he said people always knew that Addy could sing.
“You always go to see shows at the Benedum (Center),” he said. “You never think you’ll perform there when you’re older, let alone in high school.”
Addy’s mother is proud of the two singers, saying that the decision to enter the competition happened on a whim.
“We were just sort of taking a chance,” said Jodi Albert. “We didn’t even know if they would have a chance (to win).”
Addy has been singing “in the mirror with a hairbrush for quite some time,” according to her mother, and she hopes to pursue musical theater. Colin is more interested in classical singing and studies opera in his spare time.
The competition was open to students in sixth to 12th grade at a middle or high school in the competition area, which includes more than 25 counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland, according to Shaunda Miles, director of public relations for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
This year the competition had 45 applicants, the most ever, Miles said. That number was narrowed to five, and Robinson selected the winner.
The winner receives a $500 cash prize and $1,000 for the affiliated school’s music program, Miles said. While this is the first year a group has won, the prize will be split between Addy and Colin.
The South Butler County School District has no specific plans for the prize money, according to Jenny Webb, the district’s communications liaison.
Along with the cash prize, Addy is thrilled to have the opportunity to sing at a venue like the Benedum, but she has no idea how many people will be there.
“I’ll find (that) out when I get on stage,” she said.
