Yinghui (Mark) He, a 2020 graduate from the UMass Amherst department of music and dance, earned second place honors in the 2021 National Student Auditions held last month by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).
He, who studied with Marjorie Melnick, earned his B.M. in music performance in 2020 and a graduate level performance certificate in 2021. He was one of the top finalists in both the NATS New England Regionals and national semi-finals, which enabled him to compete in the men's Advanced Classical division of the national finals held in June. Finishing second in the nation placed him among the top echelon of hundreds of applicants who took part in this year鈥檚 competition.
He was born in China, and came to the U.S. at age 16, when he began voice training while attending Newton (Mass.) South High School. During his time at UMass, he distinguished himself in a number of UMass Opera productions, including the 鈥淭he Magic Flute鈥 (Tamino), 鈥淒ido and Aeneas,鈥 and 鈥淟'enfant et les sortil猫ges.鈥
Mark has been accepted to pursue his master's degree in performance at the University of Michigan beginning in the fall of 2021.