Wayland’s Caden Williams wins Texoma NATS division

PLAINVIEW, TX (NEWS RELEASE) - Wayland Baptist University student Caden Williams won the third-year classical division for tenors, baritones, and basses at the Texoma Region Student Auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. The competition took place Oct. 28-31 at West Texas A&M University in Canyon.

Williams’ first-place finish qualifies him to enter the 2027 National Student Auditions. Fellow Wayland vocalist Jazmin Ortega, a senior choral music education major from Odessa, reached the semifinals in the fourth- and fifth-year classical treble division.

“To the best of my knowledge, we have never had a student win their division at Texoma NATS,” said Dr. Brian Kuhnert, professor and director of vocal studies in Wayland’s School of Creative Arts. “It is actually quite an accomplishment just to get into the final round of some of these divisions.”

The Texoma region includes Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The auditions group singers by voice type and semesters of study after high school, so students compete against singers with similar voices and at similar stages of training.

Williams and Ortega study voice with Kuhnert. Dr. Kennith Freeman, associate professor of collaborative piano, accompanied both singers at the auditions.

About Wayland Baptist University

Established in 1908, Wayland Baptist University exists to educate students in an academically challenging, learning-focused, and distinctively Christian environment. Headquartered in Plainview, Wayland offers degrees online and at extension campuses in Lubbock, San Antonio, Tucson AZ, and Hawaii, with additional teaching sites in American Samoa, Irving, Phoenix, Rio Grande Valley, Sierra Vista AZ, and Wichita Falls.