Salem native Chloe Beal has been announced as this year’s winner of the $5,000 Chad Begeulin Fine Arts Scholarship. Chloe is a recent graduate of Southern Illinois University’s School of Music in Voice Performance and this fall will begin her pursuit of a Master of Music in Classical Performance degree at the Chicago College of Performing Arts Conservatory at Roosevelt University. She made her professional operatic debut in the Southern Illinois Music Festival production of Puccini’s La Rondine and Verdi’s Ernani and this spring joined them for Anna Bolena and L’elisir d’amore. In the fall of 2022, she performed in a masterclass with the famous Christine Brewer at the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s Central Region conference where she also placed second in the classical division auditions.
Chloe began her college years at Kaskaskia College where she studied with Professor Lynda Marshall and performed in the musical Quilters at the Centralia Cultural Society. At SIU, she performed in Amahl and the Night Visitors and A Little Prince. Most recently, she performed the role of Papagana in the Centralia Opera’s inaugural production of The Magic Flute at the Community Arts Center.
Chad Beguelin, a Centralia, Illinois native and member of the Centralia High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame, established his Fine Arts Scholarship program to encourage young people to pursue careers in all aspects of the arts. Focusing on the south-central Illinois area, he has awarded fifteen scholarships since 2015. Chad is a six-time Tony Award nominee for his work on Aladdin, The Prom and The Wedding Singer. He also wrote the lyrics for the Broadway musical Elf, which broke several box office records. His play Harbor premiered OffBroadway at Primary Stages and his debut novel, Showmance, was released in October 2024. For more information about the Chad Beguelin Fine Arts Scholarship, visit the website at beguelinscholarship.org.
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