Concert Set For June 9 To Raise Funds For Bloomer, Holt National Championship Travel

Limestone College students J.R. Bloomer and Luke Holt have their eyes set on a national music competition title later this month.

Bloomer and Holt will be traveling to Las Vegas for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Voice Competition semi-finals on June 21.

A concert will be held at Limestone Theatre on Leadmine Street in Gaffney on Saturday, June 9, to raise travel funds for the two students. Admission will be free and donations will be accepted. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m.

The two Bachelor of Fine Arts, Music Theatre majors first competed on the state level at Converse College in Spartanburg in October of 2017. Having qualified to move forward, Bloomer and Holt advanced to the Mid-Atlantic regional at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. That regional included vocalists from Maryland/Washington, DC; North Carolina; South Carolina; and Virginia. Bloomer took first place in his category, while Holt also qualified to advance to the next level, which was a national video round.

Singers who had qualified from 14 regions across the United States submitted YouTube videos for judging, with both Bloomer and Holt qualifying for the national competition coming up in Las Vegas.

Bloomer is a rising junior from Gaffney, and Holt is a rising senior from Columbia. Both students won first place awards in their respective categories at the NATS Mid-Atlantic regionals last year.

(Holt, left, and Bloomer are seen in the accompanying photo during a recent production of "Anything Goes.")