Winners announced in song festival

The plucking of musical instruments reverberated within the walls of Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center as musicians rehearsed for their performances. Accompanying the background music was the hushed buzz of conversations occurring in both English and Spanish. 

Yesterday, students and faculty gathered in the Grand Hall to perform and compete in the third annual Spanish and Portuguese Song Festival. 

Israel Herrera is the director of the program. He said his festivals have brought the community together, not aiming at one specific group of people in Bloomington.

“During the two previous festivals we had the community, we had students from IU, students from high schools ... It’s more like a mix,” he said.

Students and members of the community of all ages assembled to listen to participants compete with each other for the top prize.

There were two categories participants could sing in, one for high school students and one for IU students. Grading of the singers was based on two categories: language and musicality. 

“If the student loves music and loves Spanish, that’s the combination for participating,” Herrera said.

The audience was entertained for two hours with performances ranging from upbeat songs that had hands clapping to the beat to soulful singing that rendered the room silent.

Sprinkled in between competitors were guest performances by Tom Lozano, Anna Lynch, Nicholas Andres Mariscal and Rebecca Clay. 

The last two guests performed while the judges struggled to come to a decision in a separate room. 

After much deliberation, three winners were announced for each category. The top prized winner from IU was junior and Spanish minor Pearl Scott.

Her song, “Quièn Fuera,” was her first time singing in Spanish. 

“Singing in Spanish is a challenge,” she said.

As a non-native speaker of the language, Scott said she had to undertake strenuous training to adjust her articulation and phrasing to the Spanish style. 

“It took quite a lot of time,” she said. “Lots of walks to class singing it over and over again.”

While participants weren’t required to have a musical background, Scott’s experience in three different arts and musical programs gave her an edge. 

“I would say most of my education here at IU has been through the African American Arts Institute, the IU Soul Review and the African American Choral Ensemble,” she said.

In May, Scott said she would be studying abroad in the Dominican Republic. Participating in this competition, she said, was helpful in immersing her into the language she studies.

It was a “pre-step” for her, she said. Laughing, she admitted that this competition helped her in one other way.

“Now I know a Spanish song that I can sing in the Dominican Republic if I need to,” she said.