CCM Voice Students Receive Competition Honors

Five CCM voice students were named winners of CCM’s 2012 Opera Scholarship Competition, which was held Saturday, March 31, in CCM’s Corbett Auditorium. The annual competition welcomes current and incoming CCM voice students to compete for scholarships and cash prizes. A panel of judges composed of opera industry professionals selects each year’s class of prizewinners.

The 2012 CCM Opera Scholarship Competition winners are:

Yi Li (Candidate – Artist Diploma)
From Ji’nan, Shandong, China; studying with David Adams
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Corbett Award ($15,000)
The Corbett Award is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. This award also guarantees a stage audition with New York City Opera.

Jacqueline Echols (Candidate – Artist Diploma)
From Detroit, studying with David Adams
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Italo Tajo Memorial Award ($15,000)
This award is supported by the Italo Tajo Memorial Scholarship Fund (established by Mr. Tajo’s wife, Mrs. Inelda Tajo) in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Thomas Richards (Incoming – Artist Diploma)
From Burnsville, Minn., studying with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Andrew White Memorial Award ($12,500)
This award is supported by the Andrew White Memorial Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Edward Nelson (Candidate – Master of Music)
From Saugus, Calif., studying with William McGraw
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Seybold-Russell Award ($10,000)
The Seybold-Russell Award is supported by the Seybold-Russell Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Chabrelle Williams (Candidate – Master of Music)
From Philadelphia, studying with Barbara Paver
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the John Alexander Memorial Award ($10,000)
This award is sponsored by the John Alexander Memorial Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

The following student also received an award as part of the competition:

Summer Hassan (Incoming – Master of Music)
From Raleigh, N.C.
Prize: Corbett Incentive award for new Master of Music students ($2,000)
This incentive award for new MM students is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

The judges’ panel for CCM’s 2012 Opera Scholarship Competition included:

• Fabrizio Melano, acclaimed director
• Claudia Catania, mezzo-soprano and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Westminster Choir College
• James Robinson, Artistic Director, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

About CCM Opera
The Department of Opera at CCM boasts one of the most comprehensive training programs for opera singers, coaches and directors in the United States. Students at CCM work with some of the most renowned teachers and artists active in opera today.

CCM students frequently advance to the final rounds of the Metropolitan Opera National Council (MONC) auditions, and CCM’s Mainstage and Studio Series of Opera have received some of the National Opera Association Production Competition’s highest honors throughout the years, taking home six of the 18 non-professional prizes awarded in 2010 and four prizes in 2011.

CCM Opera graduates have performed on the stages of the world’s greatest opera companies, including Cincinnati Opera, Metropolitan Opera (New York), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera (London), La Scala (Italy) and more.

CCM’s 2011-12 opera season continues this spring, featuring Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress May 10, 12 and 13 and Rossini’s La Cenerentola May 25–27. CCM gratefully acknowledges the support of Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation and Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s.