Singing Her Way To Top of Class
Amanda McGovern can sing. Not much else needs to be said.
The Bethlehem resident is a Wheeling Park High School graduate and current senior at West Virginia University. On Sunday, her singing led her to be crowned champion of the American Pops Orchestra’s 2025 NextGen: Finding The Voices Of Tomorrow competition. She topped a talented field of collegiate vocalists in the finals, held at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
The daughter of Erin and the late Matt McGovern, she credits her family for instilling in her early a love for music.
“I grew up in a home that was filled with music,” she said. “It was always playing and I’ve always been surrounded by a family that loves and enjoys singing. So I’ve truly been inspired to become a singer and a performer by the love of music my parents brought into our home and into our daily lives.”
Her talents also were fostered at Wheeling Park High School. Park Choral Director Joyce Jingle began instructing McGovern when she was still in private school. She knew early McGovern had something special to offer.
“You can tell how much she cares about what she does, because she does put a lot of energy and effort into every performance and every role that she takes on,” Jingle said, “The thing that I think is special about Amanda is, yes, there is natural talent, but beyond the voice, the actual instrument, she has such a natural way of being able to communicate.”
Another strong influence for McGovern was Bill Cornforth, retired head of Wheeling Park’s speech and theatre department.
“I’m so thankful I had a student like Amanda,” he said. “She’s such a talented singer and actor, but she was a hard worker, too, to improve herself. Every time I see her, and I’ve seen her in her WVU productions, she just keeps getting better and better.”
That’s such a good lesson to instill on the younger generation — if you’re passionate about something and work hard, good things will happen.
In the meantime, we’ll join the rest of you in seeing just where McGovern’s talents lead her in the coming years.