Whistling winner
UD freshman finishes third in international whistling competition
9:28 a.m., May 9, 2012--A University of Delaware freshman whistled her way to an international honor, having never participated in a whistling competition before.
Alessandra Ceretto, a biological sciences major from Wilmington, Del., competed in the teenage female competition at the International Whistlers Convention held in Louisburg, N.C., in April. She came in third place overall for her division.
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Ceretto has a minor in vocal performance, and she said she often whistles the pieces she has to learn for her singing courses. She said she became interested in applying for the competition when she saw a TED Talk on YouTube featuring a man who has won the adult competition three times since 2004.
Ceretto said it was exciting to meet so many people with similar talents to hers.
“I’ve never actually met a whole group of people who could whistle,” Ceretto said.
Ceretto said she also enjoyed watching the performances of the other contestants, and was impressed many of the adult competitors used their talent professionally. She said the adult female winner performed in commercials, and the adult male winner was in Cirque du Soleil.
Each performer at the competition was judged on two pieces, one classical song and one pop song. Ceretto whistled Adele’s Laughing Song from the operetta Die Fledermaus for her classical piece and In My Life by the Beatles for her pop song.
She said she chose the first song because it fit with her opera background in vocal performance, and she chose a song by the Beatles because she has always been a big fan of their music. She received third place honors for both individual performances, leading to her third place win overall.
Ceretto said she is not sure she will do the competition again, but she thought the experience was fun and she enjoyed watching all of the other performances.
“It was awesome just seeing people who had a hobby and then turned it into something cool,” Ceretto said.
Article by Lauren Pitruzzello
Video by Erick Huber