Tarleton State University voice instructor, Heather Hawk, was awarded the top prize during the Dallas Opera Guild’s 24^th annual Vocal Competition, held Saturday, March 10.

Hawk, a 29-year-old soprano, earned first place and an $8,000 cash prize after the opera singers’ competition at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. She was among 10 finalists who competed for $20,000 in prize monies.

A resident of Weatherford and a 2005 graduate of Tarleton and 2007 graduate of Baylor University, where she earned her master’s degree in vocal performance, Hawk is pursuing her doctorate in musical arts at the University of North Texas. She joined the Department of Fine Arts’ faculty at Tarleton in 2007.

At UNT, she has sung the title role in Handel’s Alcina and was a finalist in last fall’s Concerto Competition. Hawk has also performed professionally with the UNT Faculty Concert, and sung the works of Jake Heggie with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and at the 2011 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis.

During the finals round of the competition, Hawk transfixed the audience with powerful renditions of Il est doux, il est bon from Massenet’s Hérodiade and Ah, mio cor! from Händel’s Alcina, accompanied by pianist Julian Reed. Earlier in the day, she performed selections from Così fan tutte and Adriana Lecouvreur during the semifinals.