Sophomore Lois Hegarty said she was 20 minutes from Harding in August 2013, heading to Impact for freshman orientation and registration, when she abruptly told her mother that she wanted to be a classically trained singer.

Nearly two years later, with several vocal awards and numerous qualifications on her resume, Hegarty said her achievements in the field serve as pleasant reminders that majoring in vocal performance was the right decision.

“I had no idea what I wanted to major in at first,” Hegarty said. “Part of me wanted to be a nurse or a businesswoman … but deep down I had this nagging thought that kept telling me, ‘you’ve always wanted to sing.'”

Last year, Hegarty won first place in the Arkansas freshmen women’s classical division of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and this year she placed second in the same category, sophomore division. Hegarty recently qualified for the Kristen Lewis Foundation vocal scholarship competition on March 28 and the Trinity Presents Performance series in Little Rock on April 12.

Hegarty’s voice teacher, Kelly Neill, assistant professor of music, said that Hegarty has grown significantly as a singer in the last two years.

“The audience sees a very public product,” Neill said. “It’s not every major that puts their work on display for the general public. But what isn’t seen are the number of hours Lois puts in by herself in a practice room learning her arias (and) working on her technique.”

Hegarty has been a part of Harding’s recent step toward providing more classical performance opportunities in the music department. An opera workshop recital was held on March 22 in the Reynolds Recital Hall, which has helped pave the way for an opera workshop class that will be offered next semester, according to Hegarty.

Hegarty, along with 12 other singers, performed a series of arias from popular operas at the workshop in full costume and with props from the theatre department.

“A lot of people shy away from the word ‘opera,’ because they associate it with stereotypical, boring music,” Hegarty said. “But in this case, they knew the people who were performing, so I think we were able to make a solid statement about opera and about classical voice.”

Freshman Kara Treadwell attended the opera workshop and said she was blown away by Hegarty’s performance.

“I think my initial reaction was ‘How could such a huge, full sound come from someone so small?'” Treadwell said. “But that’s opera … it was like watching art come to life before me.”

Hegarty said that while majoring in the arts is frightening, she is willing to face the challenges of a career that will inevitably include rejection and disappointment.

“This is going to sound so cheesy, but I want to sing and win for those who want to follow their dreams,” Hegarty said. “I’m doing what I love, and everybody needs to do what they love, because that’s the easiest thing to work hard for.”