Hamblin receives doctorate of music

On May 3, CCHS graduate and current Ekalaka School District music teacher Whitney Hamblin received her doctorate degree from Indiana University. Her parents, Jack and Celinda accompanied her to Bloomington, Indiana and attended the impressive commencement exercises where she was given her "Doctor of Music" degree from the Jacobs School of Music. Among the several hundred graduates receiving masters or doctorate degrees from IU, only about 10 from the Jacobs School of Music were presented.

After high school, Hamblin attended BYU Idaho where she obtained her Bachelor of Music degree. She then studied at BYU Provo obtaining her Master of Music. While at BYU, she also served as an Adjunct Professor of Voice.

Following her graduation from BYU and after an intense audition process, Hamblin was accepted into the doctoral program at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music which is widely recognized as one of the top schools of music in the country.

Throughout her educational journey, Hamblin has performed extensively on the opera stage and in televised performances. She has played leading roles such as Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, The Countess in the Marriage of Figaro. She has performed many opera scenes in Faust, La Traviata and Cosi Tan Tutte. During her Summer Performing Program in Salsburg, Austria, she was cast as Donna Anna in Mozart's La Giovanni. She has also sung in the Utah Opera Chorus, was a featured soloist in Handel's Messiah, plus performing numerous recitals.

Although classically trained, Hamblin still gets and gives great joy in singing and playing her guitar with the students in Ekalaka where, for the last three years, she has been Miss Hamblin, the music teacher for grades K-12 while completing her graduate requirements. But perhaps her greatest joy comes from singing with her brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews at all family gatherings. And she still loves country music.

This fall, Whitney will join the faculty of Utah State University in Logan, Utah as an Adjunct Professor of Voice.