News
Matthew Polenzani Receives Third Annual Beverly Sills Artist Award
April 23, 2008
New York, NY (April 23, 2008) – Tenor Matthew Polenzani has been named the recipient of the third annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young American singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is designated for extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles with the Met. The award was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met board, and her husband, Karl Leichtman, in honor of Beverly Sills. Polenzani appears as Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (“The Abduction from the Seraglio”) at the Met beginning April 26.
The Sills Award was created to help further recipients’ careers, including funding for voice lessons, vocal coaching, language lessons, related travel costs, and other professional assistance. Sills, who died on July 2, 2007, was well known as a supporter and friend to developing young artists, and this award continues her legacy as an advocate for rising singers. Mr. Polenzani is the third recipient of the award, following baritone Nathan Gunn in 2006 and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in 2007.
In accepting the award, Polenzani said, “What a tremendous honor to be the recipient of this award. I am humbled to win it, but also sad that I never knew Ms. Sills personally. I have only known her through her recordings, which are inspirational. I first became aware of her art when I heard a recording of her singing the ‘Willow Song’ from The Ballad of Baby Doe. I was struck by the beauty of her tone, the directness of her communication, and the honesty of her delivery. These are things that I strive for in my own singing. With the help of this award, I will continue to follow the example she set for me, and for all of us, to sing with heart, mind and soul. I am so grateful to Agnes Varis, Karl Leichtman, and to the Metropolitan Opera for this honor. And especially my heartfelt thanks to Beverly Sills whose tremendous support and love the world of opera has known from the moment she set foot on the stage, to the moment of her passing.”
Dr. Varis added, “Karl and I are so pleased that Matthew Polenzani is the third annual recipient of the Beverly Sills Award. His musicality and lovely lyric tenor are a great asset to the Met and richly deserve to be recognized and encouraged. We are honored to support this award, which both honors the legacy of our dear friend Beverly Sills and supports the careers of our current opera singers.”
Polenzani’s performances as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Met begin April 26 and run through May 7. Since his Met debut on December 19, 1997, as Khrushchov in Boris Godunov, he has sung 27 roles with the company, including Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri, David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Tamino in the 2004 new production premiere of Die Zauberflöte, directed by Julie Taymor. In the current season he has sung Roméo in Roméo et Juliette and Alfredo in La Traviata. Next season at the Met he reprises his Ottavio in Don Giovanni.
In addition to the Met, Polenzani has sung at the Paris Opera; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Vienna State Opera; Rome Opera; Teatro San Carlo in Naples; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; and the San Francisco Opera, among others. He has also appeared at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the Rossini Festival in Pesaro and frequently sings in concert with major orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. He has also sung with the MET Chamber Ensemble at Zankel Hall and in solo recital with James Levine at Weill Hall.