It’s not every day an undergraduate music major has the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall—twice.

That’s exactly what Southern Oregon University music student Beatriz Abella, 21, has done.

“I still can’t believe it,” she said, shaking her head in amazement. Her first trip to Carnegie Hall was in April 2011, when she sang during the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition’s Winners Recital after receiving the Grand Winner prize.

Mandee Light (left) and Beatriz Abella (right)

In December, Abella and her fellow music student, Mandee Light, 20, traveled to New York to perform in the American Protégé International Music Talent Competition’s Winners Concert, where they sang a piece from the opera, “Hansel and Gretel,” composed by Engelbert Humperdinck. The opera is based on the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale.

Abella, a double major in Music Business and Music Performance, hails from Juneau, Alaska. Light, majoring in Music and Vocal Performance, is from Medford. They call their act Duo SOU.

Light and Abella beat out musicians from across the globe to win the “Best Performance” award at Carnegie Hall.

“I do hope to enter more competitions,” said Light. “It was an amazing experience.”

Abella will spend part of her spring break performing at the Universidad de Guanajuato, SOU’s sister school in Mexico.