Young singer from Prince Edward Island has a bright future ahead of her after taking 3rd place in international singing competition

The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind for young Prince Edward Island singer Samel Sunil.

The 17-year-old not only graduated from Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown, but left that same evening with his family to catch a flight to Knoxville in eastern Tennessee.

Sunil was south of the border to compete in a National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition along with about 15,000 other singing students from across North America.

He performed very well and achieved third place in his category of senior musical singers.

“It was just a great honour and I was very lucky to make it to the semi-finals. When my name was called for the final, I honestly had tears in my eyes,” said Sunil Main Street PEI‘s Matt Rainnie.

“It’s a really great experience. And the more often I can perform, the more comfortable I feel on stage and the more feedback I get, the more my skills improve.”

Sunil’s result came as no surprise to his family and friends.

He has been singing almost as long as he has been speaking and has been involved in many productions over the years, including last year’s Charlottetown Festival production of Munschables.

To get to Knoxville, Sunil first sang in a series of regional NATS competitions culminating in the New England finals, where he took first place in his high school musical category.

Then he had to prepare and record three songs for the performances in Tennessee.

Sunil chose Maria out of West Side Story, I love Betsy out of Honeymoon in Vegas And Proud of your boy out of Aladdin.

“I’m very nervous… No matter what kind of performance it is, whether it’s in front of three people or thousands of people, I’m always equally nervous,” he said.

“Before I go on stage I shake and am very nervous, but the moment I step on stage it all just disappears.”

A “singing storyteller”

Suzanne Campbell, who has been Sunil’s singing teacher since fifth grade, said it takes a lot of preparation and polish to make it to the NATS finals.

Another of Campbell’s students, Neilina Ning, a Grade 7 student at Queen Charlotte Intermediate School, also went to Knoxville and made it to the semifinals in her category.

The teacher is proud of the two students’ achievements, but said that regardless of their placement, NATS was an important opportunity for them to grow as singers and learn from other teachers and artists.

“I try to convey to my students that in any performance or competition, it’s always nice to win, but the most important thing is to think about what you can learn about yourself as an artist, as a singer, when you find yourself in those situations,” Campbell said.

She said of Sunil: “He’s a wonderful singing storyteller and that lends itself very well to musical theatre, but he also sings a lot of popular music and has had a really successful time with it. He’s a hard-working and talented guy.”

“He always treats people with respect… and he shows his gratitude to the people who work with him, and things like that are so valuable.”

Even though Sunil has graduated from high school and taken part in an international singing competition, his musical life has not come to an end.

Later this month he will perform in an emerging artists competition at the Federation of Canadian Music Festivals in Sackville, NB.

He also had the opportunity to audition at prestigious American music schools such as Juilliard.

Ultimately, he decided to attend Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario this fall because he believes the school offers him the best opportunity to further pursue his passion for musical theatre.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” he said. “I tried a few things in high school, like physics and biology. I got bored of all that. I just want to act, sing and perform.”

“Entertaining people is what I love and hopefully I will be able to continue doing that in the future.”