What does a University of Toronto engineering science student have that others don’t? A chance to be Canada’s first Skule Idol!

Modelled on the popular American Idol television series, U of T’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is offering it’s students, faculty and alumni a chance to sing with renowned soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian as part of the programs 75th anniversary celebration taking place Dec. 17.

“Skule Idol is a unique opportunity to reward and showcase our Engineers’ talents in music, which is quite a surprising but common strength our faculty’s students and alumni,” says Sarah Steed, external relations officer.

Bayrakdarian is herself a graduate of Engineering Science at U of T, and understand first hand the importance of pairing music with math. “It might seem unusual for an engineer to be a professional musician, but actually many engineers have classical music training and passion for it. I’ve always been fascinated by the complimentary nature of these two pursuits: Music and math.  So naturally, I’ve always been curious to see if there are other engineers whose hearts are in music, yet their minds are firmly in technical matters.”

So far there are 35 people auditioning on Oct. 9 with one contestant flying in from out west. Closer to home Murtaza Bohra, a second year student, is using the time he’s not studying to practise for Friday’s audition.

“It’s a great opportunity and it would be an honour for any student to even attempt singing a duet with Isabel,” says Bohra. “It’s a once in a life time chance, I want to make the best of it.”

For Bayrakdarian it’s about giving back. “I will never forget the support and understanding the engineering faculty showed when I was starting to take serious interest in music.  It meant a great deal to me to see how proud they were that one of their own was winning international singing competitions.  Their encouragement and open-mindedness emboldened my initial steps in the music world.”

Friday’s auditions won’t be open to the public but will be judged by an impressive panel including vocal coach Stuart Hamilton, Toronto Star columnist Martin Knelman and Bayrakdarian. To buy tickets go to: www.uofttix.ca/view.php?id=529