John Curtin College of the Arts 2018 graduate, Bhavna Venkat recently received a special award from the WA Teachers Union that acknowledged her success in her Year 12 music exam.
She was one of only two students in the State to receive 100% in her practical ATAR music exam.
Bhavna was born in India, moved to Chicago when she was eight and London when she was 10. She started vocal lessons when she was four and learnt to sing Indian classical music until she was seven. While living in London she began listening to more and more Western music and realised she had a passion for singing and creating music.
Bhavna auditioned for the Gifted and Talented music theatre program when she was 13.
“I didn’t even know the difference between ‘musical theatre’, ‘contemporary’ and ‘classical’, all I knew was I loved the feeling of performing and singing on the stage and entertaining an audience.”
She had starring roles in college productions including Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray, and Marty in Grease.
In Year 11 she took up Contemporary Voice under the Music ATAR course to further hone her music skills and have her performance skills contribute to her final ATAR score.
“I was very lucky to have my voice teacher, Mrs Shemeld, who guided and supported my musical ability and helped me improve over the last two years.”
“I never realised before coming to John Curtin that I could get to where I am today, in regards to music, by spending time improving and practicing my skills, and developing the passion I had for performance,” she said.
Bhavna will be moving to Melbourne next year with her family and studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and Law at The University of Melbourne.