NESA freshman, Rachel Laven, has been selected to compete in the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) 'The Next Big Thing.' This is an international singing competition seeking the world's best young unsigned band, and Laven is ranked thirteen out of the 20 candidates.  More than 1,100 entries were submitted to compete for the 20 spots. A panel of judges will pick six finalists to perform at the BBC's famous Maida Vale studios in London for a BBC-sponsored contest and will move on to compete in the finals in December.

Currently, Laven is a musical theatre student and takes her core courses at Lee.  At age five, Laven began singing with her family band, The Lavens.  Laven began playing the guitar at the age of 10 after already learning the piano.  She has also written dozens of songs and many include songs that are performed by her family band.  When performing, her older brother plays guitar and she sings.  Laven's talent resulted from her parents who themselves were part of a local cover band when she was young.  Laven grew up among guitar players, singers and drummers.

'The Next Big Thing' was open to groups and solo artists in any genre of music.  Candidates had to be under age 18 and perform their own songs.