On June 28, the Bellefonte Area Middle School student was honored as the inaugural winner of the Youth Musical Theatre category at the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s (NATS) National Student Auditions competition in Knoxville, Tenn.

Held at the University of Tennessee, the competition is a prestigious event that showcases the talents of students from across the country. It provides a platform for young singers to compete in various categories, receive feedback from experienced judges and gain recognition for their vocal abilities.

Born with a natural talent she attributes to her mother, Jackie, Addison has always loved to sing.

“I remember her daycare teacher sent a video of her singing “Tomorrow” from Annie, when she was three, and she was hitting every note in this cute little voice. And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, like how can she do that at age three?’ So we kind of knew she had something special,” said Jackie, who works as a secondary literacy coach at Bellefonte Area High School.

Wynkoop poses with her vocal instructor, Kelly Scott of Kelly Scott Studios, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. PHOTOS PROVIDED

A fan of musical theater herself, she said, “It’s nice to see something that was a passion for me become a passion for her and just for her to have such a natural talent.”

“I pretty much sing all the time, every day,” said Addison. Her mother joked that means Addison is always in control of the car’s aux and annoying her older brother with her constant singing.

“Before I got into middle school, I wasn’t super involved with musicals and didn’t know a bunch about that,” said Addison. “When I got to 6th grade I did my first show, and I really, really loved it.”

Like many teenagers, before discovering her love of theater, Wykoop, 14, mostly listened to pop music. Though she still idolizes musicians like Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift, after her first ever musical theater performance as Liesl von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” she fell for the art.

She has since performed in productions of Broadway hits, “Newsies” and “Mean Girls, Jr.” In her most recent show, “Mean Girls,” as part of the Millbrook Playhouse Youth Ensemble, she starred as Janice Ians. She described the show as her dream production.

PHOTO PROVIDED Addison Wynkoop, an eighth grade student at Bellefonte Area Middle School, is pictured at the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition in Knoxville, Tenn.

“I think any show would be her dream show,” Jackie quipped. “But this is really her dream show.”

This would go on to pose a dilemma, as the show was set to premier the weekend of NATS.

“I was super excited,” said Addison about finding out she’d be performing in Knoxville. “I was also really in between because I didn’t know if the directors for ‘Mean Girls’ were going to let me do both.”

Because she did not want to miss out on the opportunity to perform at either event, she sought a compromise.

“Once I was cast as Janis, we had to contact the directors, and they worked something out. I was really lucky to be able to do both,” she said.

The compromise was to cast fellow youth ensemble member Sierra Kolk to perform on Thursday and Friday, allowing Addison to still participate in the Saturday and Sunday shows.

This arrangement required Addison to attend every practice and demonstrate her commitment to the production. Her willingness to complicate her schedule for the sake of theater experience underscores her passion for the art and dedication to achieving greatness.

The road to Knoxville began with the NATS’ multi-state Eastern Region singing competition, which took place in March in West Chester, Pa.

During the regional competition, which any student could attend, she performed in front of three judges who selected the top three singers to perform in a second round.

The songs she chose to perform would be the ones she had to stick with throughout the competition, so the decision of what to sing was a hefty one.

She ultimately chose to perform “I Cain’t Say No” from “Oklahoma” and “Watch What Happens” from “Newsies” as the songs played to her natural strengths.

“I did ‘Newsies’ so I had a lot of experience with the character and with the song, so I think that was a really good choice for me,” she said of her decision to sing “Watch What Happens.” The song is sung by Katherine Pulitzer “Plumber,” the character she starred as in BAMS’s production of the musical.

Though she didn’t like “I Cain’t Say No” originally, once she worked on the song with her voice coach, Kelly Scott, and found ways to incorporate personality into it, she began to truly love it.

Scott is the owner and founder of Kelly Scott Studios. Specializing in intermediate and advanced vocal technique, strengthening mixing and belting ability, cross style voice training and contemporary commercial music, her students have gone on to be accepted into several prestigious singing programs.

“Obviously, Addy has a lot of natural talent, but Kelly has really helped her in learning how to control her voice, how to pick which songs fit her voice best, how to warm up properly, how to take care of her voice. So she’s really helped her kind of take it to that next level,” said Jackie

Wynkoop went on to win first in the second round of regionals, in part thanks to Scott’s support and guidance.

Anyone in the top five from regionals was invited to submit a video audition to compete at the national competition. Out of the 75-80 competitors, the 15 best were invited to Knoxville. This, of course, included Addison.

Leaving immediately after a mandatory rehearsal for “Mean Girls,” the Wynkoop family drove the long nine hours to Tennessee. Arriving shortly before midnight, she headed straight to bed to prepare for the long day ahead.

After navigating several travel-related hurdles that morning, they arrived at the University of Tennessee to prepare with her accompanying pianist for her performance that evening.

To advance to the final three, which was held publicly in a campus ballroom, Wynkoop first had to secure a top-three position in a private audition before a panel of judges.

“I was really emotional when I found out that I was in the top three because honestly, I was really more scared to do that audition than I was to be on the stage for that big ballroom thing… To even be in the top three that is just amazing by itself,” said Addison.

“Even when she made top three, the poor guy next to me, I probably blew out his eardrums I screamed so loudly,” said her mother.

For her final performance, Addison could only sing one song, meaning she had to make a choice: to perform “Watch What Happens,” a modern song with a character she is deeply familiar with, or “I Cain’t Say No,” a classic song that allowed her to flaunt her vocal ability.

“Ultimately they picked ‘I Cain’t Say No’ because it does have so much personality. She can use a twang in her voice, she can kind of do some fun moves.” said Jackie. “Everybody was singing modern songs and there were very few, if any, other than her who were singing classics. Her vocal coach thinks that also might have set her apart.”

“It would have been easier if I did ‘Watch What Happens,’ but I feel like I probably wouldn’t have won if I did,” said Addison. She felt it was the combination of the personality, range and atypical choice of musical era that set her performance apart.

“I saw the other two go, and they were amazing,” said her mother, “but when she goes out there she just kills it on stage. And I think she’s so good from my perspective at owning the stage and making it more than just singing the song.”

Facing steep competition from incredibly talented young performers, Addison was shocked to be named the winner.

“I did not expect to win at all because this is kind of like my first-ish competition,” she said. Previously she has performed at “Happy Valley’s Got Talent” and auditioned for “The Voice,” but both were different style experiences from NATS.

Addison had nothing but positive things to say about her competitors Mathew Molina, who placed second, and Elizabeth Paquin, who came in third. As a matter of fact, she said she made friends with the two, so it’s safe to say there are no hard feelings.

“I just think it’s really cool that I get to be known as like the first winner ever of it,” she said.

For her, it wasn’t the title, $800 check or the certificate that made the experience worth it. The experience itself is what was valuable.

“I just love being on stage and performing and meeting new people, meeting new friends,” she said.

Addison thanked several people for helping her succeed: her vocal instructor, Kelly Scott; her drama instructors, Mrs. Cetnar and Mrs. Zimmerman; her parents; and her brother, for tolerating her singing.

Though she is not currently pursuing a career in theater since it’s a hard age to be cast because of the limitations of child labor laws, she plans on continuing working with Millbrook Playhouse and participating in her school’s productions, namely the Middle School’s next show, “The Little Mermaid.”

She also shared plans to compete at NATS’ next chapter level competition and pursue the national title again in 2026 at the next NATS conference, which will be held in San Antonio.

“I definitely want to be in more shows,” said Addison. “I would love to start like maybe trying to get an agent and start auditioning for other shows in New York or something.”

Needless to say, you should prepare to see this rising star on Broadway one day soon.