Vicki Lester’s winning formula sees voice students to state competition 

by Karen Nathan

Behind the success of many local student performers is 30-year Sagamore resident and voice teacher Vicki Lester. From her piano in front of an iconic fireplace in her Olde 8 Road home, she coaches a generation of singers for success in Shining Star CLE, choruses and musical productions. 

A music educator, Lester studied at Capital University and received her masters at the University of Akron. She taught music at the elementary, middle and high school levels for 20 years, and was musical director at Nordonia High School. When she and husband Michael closed the family business, she started teaching out of the house. She said she gives “thanks to American Idol and The Voice for making this a business.”

Lester’s students have won leading roles in school musicals and local community theater, been soloists in choral productions and won competitions. When teaching, Lester focuses completely on the student, which she and the singers agree is the winning formula for achievement. “The kids are the most important thing to me in that moment,” she said. 

Since 2017, Shining Star CLE has been the premiere singing competition for Northeast Ohio teens. Drawing from 10 area counties, students in ninth through twelfth grade compete, with the winner receiving a $10,000 college scholarship and the opportunity to perform with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. Lester’s students have competed since the program’s inception. 

Lester encourages her students to audition for the competition and each year, seven or eight students give it a go. Lester says it’s a good experience to have “a camera stuck in your face.” She does not focus on winning, but rather the experience and helping her students be the best they can in the moment. 

The first round of the competition starts with 146 area high schoolers submitting audition videos. Lester has her students sing in front of the fireplace in her home, while she accompanies them on piano. She helps each of them select a song that highlights their voice. Students have sung Broadway hits and pop music. Lester’s only rule is no curse words. The kids respect her and joke that she’s old school, to which she says, “yep.”

In round two, 82 kids are chosen for Zoom auditions. Again, Lester accompanies her students on piano. For round three, the top 25 go to the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood for a day of work with judges to improve their craft. Round four takes place as an evening performance in Playhouse Square.

In Shining Star CLE’s eight years of competition, Lester has had students reach the top 25 five times, and three times her students made it to the top 10. 

In 2024, Ellie Amorino sang Quiet by Natalie Weiss and won. A senior at Solon High School, Amorino has been a student of Lester’s for eight years and competed in Shining Star CLE all four years of eligibility. Lester taught her to control her voice and improve her technique. 

“Mrs. Lester is a kind and loving person, who genuinely wants to help us get better,” she said. “It felt like such an accumulation of triumph and trial over those years. It really feels like such a relief I was able to break thorough the top 10 and even win the whole competition.”

Isabella Zeman, a senior at Tallmadge High School, is another of Lester’s students who has competed in Shining Star CLE the past four years. Zeman’s path wasn’t a straight shot though, as she had Lockjaw Syndrome multiple years and it hurt to sing. Lester helped her through it, teaching Zeman how to hold and exercise her jaw. 

Lester took things a step further by researching medication, exercises, techniques and surgeries that might help. She taught Zeman’s mother how to massage the jaw and put her in contact with another of her students who had overcome the syndrome. “I know she’d do that for any of her students in a heartbeat,” Zeman said. 

For Shining Star CLE, Lester worked with Zeman to pick the perfect songs for her high soprano. This year, they settled on I Feel Pretty from West Side Story. Zeman made it into the top 25, which had been unimaginable given how it had hurt to sing. Zeman said Lester supported her each year for Shining Star CLE and has coached her for musical auditions. Zeman will play the lead as Fiona in Shrek the Musical at Tallmadge High School this spring. 

Lester and her husband will be there when Zeman takes the stage. They attend all of her students’ performances. During show season they may hit three high school performances in a weekend. Lester’s devotion to her students is reflected back to her. When asked what she thought was the key to Lester’s success, Zeman said, “She cares more about her students than she does about the winning. She’s willing to help through anything. Mrs. Lester is the most caring person I’ve ever met.”

photo caption: Ellie Amorino (l) stands with Vicki Lester after winning the Shining Star CLE competition this year. Photo submitted.