Australian Institute of Music 2nd year Contemporary Performance student Nadia Aya Abdelghani has shown that persistence pays off when it comes to achieving your goals. Nadia, who is also a graduate from AIM High School, was a recent winner in the 2011 McDonald's Sydney Eisteddfod. Nadia competed in the Jazz/Blues over 18 categories and picked up first prize, in addition to finishing 2nd in the 18 plus age group for vocal performance.


The McDonald's Sydney Eisteddfod provides an opportunity for people of all ages to showcase their talents in the areas of speech, dance, drama and music and to do so at some of the most prestigious performing arts venues in Sydney. Nadia has been competing in the Sydney Eisteddfod since the age of 12 and is one of the most passionate and talented emerging vocalists on the local Sydney circuit.



Nadia says that she has learned a lot about how the competition works and about how to give the best performance, adding that "in each category, there were about 30 performers, so I am very happy to have won and to have also been placed second this year.”



Having developed a love for music from a young age, Nadia adds "doing my HSC studies at AIM and then moving on to the Contemporary Performance degree has also given me invaluable performance practice and confidence especially from a jazz aspect, which is my preferred genre. My teacher Katie Carr has been great and such an inspiration to me.”



To learn more about the AIM Contemporary Performance course that Nadia is studying please visit: http://www.aim.edu.au/courses/contemporary-performance/