New York, NY (March 28, 2007) – The Metropolitan Opera today announced the names of 11 finalists who will sing in the 2007 National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on April 1 at 3:00 p.m., with the Met Orchestra conducted by Marco Armiliato. The finalists are: Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano from Bloomington, Indiana; Kiera Duffy, soprano from New York, New York; Michael Fabiano, tenor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dísella Làrusdóttir, soprano from Levittown, Pennsylvania; Ryan McKinny, baritone from Houston, Texas; Angela Meade, soprano from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Nicholas Pallesen, baritone from Tallahassee, Florida; Matthew Plenk, tenor from Hartford, Connecticut; Alek Shrader, tenor from Oberlin, Ohio; Ryan Smith, tenor from Decatur, Georgia; Amber L. Wagner, soprano from Phoenix, Arizona.
The finalists, between the ages of 20 and 30 years old, will be competing for up to five $15,000 cash prizes at the Grand Finals Concert. They were chosen from nearly 1500 singers who participated in the auditions held in 45 districts and 15 regions throughout the United States and Canada, sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Given the reach of the auditions, the number of applicants, and the long tradition associated with them, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions are considered the most prestigious in North America for singers seeking to launch an operatic career. Some winners are invited to join the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
The Grand Finals Concert will be hosted by Stephanie Blythe, a leading mezzo-soprano with the Met and a former Auditions winner. Alexandra Deshorties and Mark Delavan, former Auditions finalists and principal artists currently with the Met, will perform during the judges’ deliberations once the auditions part of the program is over.
Past winners of the Met Auditions include many of today’s leading operatic artists such as Renée Fleming, Hei-Kyung Hong, Deborah Voigt, Grace Bumbry, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick, Nathan Gunn, Ben Heppner, Thomas Hampson, and Samuel Ramey. During a typical opera season, over one hundred alumni of the Auditions sing in Met performances.
The Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, April 1 at 3 p.m. is open to the public. Tickets from $15 to $75 are available at the Met Box Office, by phone at 212-362-6000, or at the Met’s web site, www.metopera.org.
Finalists Biographical Notes
The following are brief biographical notes for the 11 finalists who will compete at the April 1 Grand Finals Concert. The region where each of them won the earlier round of competition is notated at the end of their biography.
Jamie Barton
MEZZO-SOPRANO
BIRTHPLACE Rome, Georgia
AGE 25
Currently pursuing her Master's degree in voice performance at Indiana University. She will make her professional operatic debut in the summer of 2007 as Annina in La Traviata with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Recent engagements include Mrs. Soames in the world premiere of Rorem’s Our Town, Little Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and Tisbe in La Cenerentola with Indiana Opera Theatre. She recently won 3rd place in the Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition and will join the Houston Grand Opera Studio this fall. (Tri-State Region)
Kiera Duffy
SOPRANO
BIRTHPLACE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AGE 27
Upcoming operatic performances include Fatmé in Zémire et Azor with Arizona Opera, the Dew Fairy in Hänsel und Gretel with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Despina in Così fan tutte at the Tanglewood Festival, and the Voice in John Zorn’s La Machine de l’Etre with New York City Opera. In concert she will sing Mozart’ Requiem with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Notable recent engagements include Clorinda in La Cenerentola with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Rose in Carter's What's Next? at Tanglewood, and Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Camerata New York Orchestra. (Eastern Region)
Michael Fabiano
TENOR
BIRTHPLACE Hoboken, New Jersey
AGE 22
Currently a resident artist at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts where he has performed numerous roles including Anatol in Vanessa, Lenski in Eugene Onegin, the Duke in Rigoletto, Roberto in Le Villi, and Froh in Das Rheingold. Upcoming are Des Grieux in Manon in Philadelphia and Alfredo in La Traviata for his debut at Austria’s Klagenfurt State Theater. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as Don Antonio in Donizetti's Dom Sébastiene with Opera Orchestra of New York, appeared as Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore with New Jersey Opera Theatre, and in 2005 was an apprentice artist with the Santa Fe Opera. (New England Region)
Dísella Làrusdóttir
SOPRANO
BIRTHPLACE Mosfellssveit, Iceland
Age 30
Recently graduated from Westminster Choir College with a Master's degree in voice performance and pedagogy. Has performed with the New Jersey Concert Opera (Ännchen in Der Freischütz), Vermont's Barre Opera Theater (Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel), and Iceland's Summer Opera (the Second Woman in Dido and Aenas). She has performed in concert at Los Angeles's Wilshire Theater and with the Haddonfield Symphony Chamber Orchestra at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center and has given recitals at Philadelphia's Academy of Music, Dover's Schwartz Center for the Arts, and in Reykjavík, Iceland. She was the winner of the 2004 National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition. (Middle Atlantic Region)
Ryan McKinny
BARITONE
BIRTHPLACE Los Angeles, California
AGE 26
A member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and a graduate of the Julliard School of Music. Performances with Houston Grand Opera include Masetto in Don Giovanni, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, Zuniga in Carmen, and Nikitich in Boris Godunov. Other notable engagements include the Tutor in Le Comte Ory and Figaro at Wolf Trap Opera, Der Tod in Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis at Chicago's Ravinia Festival and Italy's Spoleto Festival, and Handel's Messiah with the Musica Sacra Orchestra for his debut at Carnegie Hall. He will represent the Unites States at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in June 2007. (Southwest Region)
Angela Meade
SOPRANO
BIRTHPLACE Centralia, Washington
AGE 29
Currently a resident artist at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts. Recent performances include Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Academy of Vocal Arts and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and the world premiere of Jorge Martin’s Stronger Than Darkness with the Monmouth Civic Chorus. Upcoming is her debut season with the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Among the major vocal competitions she has won top prizes from are the Liederkranz Foundation Competition, the Opera Index Competition, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition, and the Loren L. Zachary Competition. (Northwest Region)
Nicholas Pallesen
BARITONE
BIRTHPLACE Riverside, California
AGE 28
Currently pursuing a Master's degree in voice at Florida State University. Upcoming engagements include Prince Yashvin in the world premiere of Carlson's Anna Karenina with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Notable appearances include Don Giovanni (Opera Fort Collins), Carl Olsen in Street Scene (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Achilla in Giulio Cesare and Elder McLean in Susannah (Florida State University Opera), Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Utah Festival Opera), and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro (Operafestival di Roma). Concert appearances include Dvorák’s Te Deum with the National Theater Orchestra of Prague and John Rutter’s Mass of the Children with the National Philharmonic. (Midwest Region)
Matthew Plenk
TENOR
BIRTHPLACE Lindenhurst, New York
AGE 24
He will receive his Artist Diploma this year from Yale School of Music (where he earlier received his Master of Music degree) and is a graduate of Hartt School of Music. At Yale Opera he has sung Rodolfo in La Bohème, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Kudrjáš in Kát’a Kabanová, and Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Concert appearances include performances with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Connecticut Chamber Orchestra and Yale Philharmonia in New Haven, and Musica Angelica Baroque in Los Angeles. (New England Region)
Alek Shrader
TENOR
BIRTHPLACE Cleveland, Ohio
AGE 25
A graduate student at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he made his professional debut last summer as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and last January sang Florville in Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino with New York’s Gotham Chamber Opera. Recent roles include Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, the Chevalier in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Tony in West Side Story at Oberlin. Last summer he attended Renata Scotto’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Opera Studio in Rome. Upcoming is Ramiro in La Cenerentola with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program. This fall he joins the Juilliard Opera Center. (Rocky Mountain Region)
Ryan Smith
TENOR
BIRTHPLACE Los Angeles, California
AGE 30
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College and a Master of Music degree from Ohio University in Athens (where he has sung Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and Albert in Albert Herring). He toured across the United States with the Morehouse College Glee Club, and has performed with the chorus of the Atlanta Opera singing a Prisoner in Fidelio, the Crab Man in Porgy and Bess, and a Villager in Pagliacci. He is a member of the Santa Fe Opera Young Artist program and this summer sings Parpignol in La Bohème at the Santa Fe Opera. (Southeast Region)
Amber L. Wagner
SOPRANO
BIRTHPLACE Santa Barbara, California
AGE 26
Becomes a member of the Young Artist Program of the Lyric Opera of Chicago this season. She is a graduate of Grand Canyon University where she sang Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and the title roles in Turandot and Vanessa. She was a winner of the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition (Arizona Chapter), and was a finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Competition where she received the Special Encouragement Award. (Western Region)