Middle school girl wins chance to open for concert

When Tiffani Barber was a little girl, her mother enrolled her in a ballet class. It was soon apparent Tiffani was more interested in creating the music than dancing to it.

So before Tiffani could even read, she began voice lessons at age 5. And at 14, she's still singing.

"I love music," she said. "It's a different way to express how you feel."

When she heard an announcement for a contest on the local radio station, KWNZ, she didn't hesitate to call.

"I was like, let's see if I can get through," she recalled. "I didn't expect to be able to, but I did."

She sang the chorus of Alicia Keys' "Fallen" over the phone and was invited back to compete in the final competition

She was given the sheet music to Mariah Carey's "Oh Boy" and practiced for two weeks with her voice coach Karin Randall, a third-grade teacher at Fremont Elementary School.

With seven of her friends listening to the radio in the parking lot, Tiffani and and four other contestants sang on the air, and listeners called in to choose the winner: Tiffani.

"I was really surprised," she said. "The voting started at 8, and that's the same time my school starts so most of my friends were in school."

But her basketball coach and another teacher allowed students to call in their votes.

"I'm so happy," Tiffani said. "I couldn't do it without my family and friends. I'm very thankful to have them."

She will now be invited to open for the radio station's next "jam concert."

An eighth-grader at Carson Middle School, Tiffani is often asked to sing for school functions and has performed the national anthem for several community baseball games.

"I get nervous when I sing in front of people," Tiffani confessed. "My hands shake, but I still do it, and it gives me more confidence after I do it."

She is not loyal to any particular type of music.

"I enjoy singing almost anything because I listen to country, hip-hop, pop, R&B -- everything," she said. "If I like a song, I'll keep listening to it and then try to get the sheet music."

But her interests aren't limited to music.

Tiffani plays on her school's basketball and volleyball teams and runs track and cross country.

She plans to continue running, singing, and playing basketball at Carson High School as a freshman this fall. She would like to pursue a scholarship in one of the three interests after high school.

A Carson City native, Tiffani lives here with her parents Brad and Faith and her 5-year-old sister, Bailee Jean.