News
Nine Finalists Named for Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on February 24
Young singers chosen from around the U.S. and Canada to compete for cash prizes on the Met stage
February 19, 2008
New York, NY (February 19, 2008) – The Metropolitan Opera today announced the names of nine finalists who will sing in the 2008 National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, February 24 at 3:00 p.m., with the Met Orchestra conducted by Stephen Lord. The finalists are: Dominic Armstrong, tenor from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; René Barbera, tenor from Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Carolina Castells, soprano from Bloomington, Indiana; Jennifer Johnson, mezzo-soprano from Houston, Texas; Daveda Karanas, mezzo-soprano from San Francisco, California; Christopher Magiera, baritone from New Haven, Connecticut; Simone Osborne, soprano from Vancouver, British Columbia; Edward Parks, baritone from New Haven Connecticut; and Stephen A. Ray, baritone from Arkadelphia, Arkansas.
The finalists, between the ages of 20 and 30 years old, will be competing for individual cash prizes of $15,000 each at the Grand Finals Concert. Equally important is their chance to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra on the historic opera house stage before an audience that will include opera company executives, artist managers, music critics, and other opinion-makers of the music world. They were chosen from nearly 1,500 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 Patricia Racette, a leading soprano with the Met and a former Auditions participant. The concert will also feature a special performance by 1992 National Council Grand Finals winner and Met mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung.
Past winners of the Met Auditions include many of today’s leading operatic artists such as Renée Fleming, Hei-Kyung Hong, Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick, Stephanie Blythe, 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, February 24 at 3 p.m. is open to the public. Tickets from $15 to $100 are available at the Met Box Office, by phone at 212-362-6000, or at the Met’s web site, www.metopera.org.