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A 16-year-old with a beautiful singing voice would probably try out for American Idol or appear on "America's Got Talent". Most are attracted to the glitzy fantasy world of pop music and not to the artistic qualities that the songs may hold.

But not Samantha Rosenthal. The Colts Neck resident offered her singing talent in a completely different field: opera.

Samantha started singing eight years ago, when her mother discovered that Samantha was the only child on pitch in a school play.

"For a while, I just wanted to sing popular songs," Samantha said in an interview with The Jewish State at the Monmouth Academy, Howell, where Samantha is in her senior year of high school.

That changed around four years ago, when Samantha found herself attracted to opera. Although she did not like to learn it at first, she quickly learned the beauty of opera.

"When I started singing opera, I wasn't really into it," Samantha said. "I didn't understand the language (the opera Samantha sings is in French and Italian), I didn't like the pronunciations," Samantha said. "When I started to watch it, I thought there was more to connect to - I felt that opera is more like emotions that everyone experiences put in a more dramatic way, so everyone can kind of connect with it. But with some pop songs, you may not like the beat or the words or understand what they're saying, but I feel like opera is almost universal."

Samantha will be performing in her first competition in Mannes College, Manhattan, on Nov. 9. There she will be competing for part of up to $2 million in prizes as part of the nationwide High School Vocal Competition '09. The finals will be held in Chicago. In the contest, Samantha will sing three French opera songs called "Voyons Manon" from the opera "Manon," "Donde Lieta" from the opera "La Boheme," and "Un Reve" from the opera "Faure." After introducing herself and the pieces, Samantha will sing them and be graded on her performance.

"I'm excited because I like to get constructive criticism when I sing," Samantha said.

After all the competitors sing, a list is posted with callbacks and those who made the cut sing again.

"They keep going through this process until they're done with the top five, and then they tell you then and there where you placed," Samantha said.

Samantha hopes to win the top prize, a scholarship to a music school of her choice. Her eyes are set on esteemed music school Julliard, and she hopes for a career in opera.

"It sounds silly, but every time I see the pictures of the sopranos outside theaters, I always say that that's where my picture is going to be!" Samantha said. "It's kind of a scary thought - if I don't [go into opera as a career]. But I have a lot of ambition for it and I really do like it. I try not to think 'if not.'"

After performing in operas, Samantha wants to teach opera.

"I feel like maybe after I perform in the opera, I will teach," Samantha said. "I know that my teacher used to sing… and she had leads. But she says now that when she teaches, she feels like she understands a lot more than she didn't know, and that if she could pass off what she knows now to younger generations, she thinks that opera would be more advanced."

Samantha currently attends Monmouth Academy, Howell, where the curriculum has the ability to adapt to Samantha's practice schedule.

"We work around her schedule to allow her to go to practice," said Tim Costello, head of school. "Samantha is an excellent academic student so when she misses courses, she's still required to get the work done, which she does. It's a credit to her dedication and her commitment."

"Samantha is new to us this year," Costello continued. "She has absolutely been a blessing from day one. We are just absolutely excited to have her as part of our student body. We want to give her every opportunity to have her do well. She fit right into the student body. The faculty love her and the students love her."

Monmouth Academy strives to provide an environment where Samantha can continue to pursue opera.

"One of the unique things is that it's not only a school from an academic standpoint. It's a school with individuals who have these special talents," Costello said. "I think it's important that we allow these students to experience, and that's what Samantha does. She takes classes; we work her schedule, which allows her to do that opportunity. From an educator's standpoint, I think we'd be very amiss if we didn't provide her with that opportunity, because we can't offer her opera here [in the school]."

As for Samantha, she likes being in an environment that caters to her needs and helps expand her musical horizons.

"The school is a very good environment," Samantha said. "When I first started singing, I was only singing from what I knew. One of the boys here is really good at guitar. We were talking and he started to teach me the theory of guitar. So I started doing a theory class - what he showed me ended up helping me a lot with my music. I think that part of the diversity here really helps me."