Six students won awards in CCM’s 2019 Opera Scholarship Competition, which was held on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at Corbett Auditorium.
Since its inauguration in 1976, the annual competition welcomes current and incoming CCM voice students to compete for scholarships and cash prizes, and a panel of judges composed of opera industry professionals selects each year’s class of prizewinners.
The 2019 CCM Opera Scholarship Competition winners are:
Victor Cardamone, first-year Master of Music student
From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Studying at CCM with Tom Baresel
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Corbett Award ($15,000)
The Corbett Award is supported by the Corbett Foundation in cooperation with CCM.
Carlos Cardenas, first-year Artist Diploma student
From Bogota, Columbia; Studying at CCM with Daniel Weeks
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 Inelda Tajo) in cooperation with CCM.
Samuel Kid, incoming Master of Music student from the University of Michigan
From Ann Arbor, Michigan
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 CCM.
Teresa Perrotta, second-year Master of Music student
From Orlando, Florida; Studying at CCM with Gwen Detwiler
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the Seybold-Russell Award ($10,000)
This award is supported by the Seybold-Russell Scholarship Fund in cooperation with CCM.
Amanda Olea, second-year Master of Music student
From Mexico City, Mexico; Studying at CCM with Gwen Detwiler
Prize: Full-tuition scholarship and the John Alexander Memorial Award ($10,000)
This award is supported by the John Alexander Memorial Scholarship Fund in cooperation with CCM.
Maria Miller, first-year Master of Music student
From Paducah, Kentucky; Studying at CCM with Amy Johnson
Prize: Norman Treigle Award ($3000)
This award is supported by the Norman Treigle Opera Scholarship Competition Award Fund in cooperation with CCM.
The judges panel for CCM’s 2019 Opera Scholarship Competition included:
- Thomas Bankston, Artistic Director of Dayton Opera
- Lawrence Edelson, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of American Lyric Theater in New York, where he oversees the Composer Librettist Development Program.
- Neal Goren, Founder and Artistic Director of Catapult Opera, a new touring company premiering in fall 2020 with a new Robert Wilson production of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.
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 and alumni frequently advance to the final rounds of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2017, four CCM alumni competed in the semi-finals: Jessica Faselt, soprano (MM Voice, 2016); Summer Hassan, soprano (MM Voice, 2014); Andrew Manea, baritone (MM Voice, 2016); and Cody Quattlebaum, bass-baritone (BM Voice, 2015) — who was chosen as a finalist in the national competition. In 2018, former CCM Artist Diploma in Opera Performance student Brandon Scott Russell (MM Voice, 2018; AD Vocal Performance, 2018) took first place at the Met’s National Council Auditions Southeast Regional Competition and went on to compete in the semi-final round. This year, three CCM alumni and students will advance to the Met’s National Council Semi-Finals: Joshua Wheeker, tenor (CCM Voice 2007-2012); Murrella Parton (MM Voice, 2017); and Elena Villalón, soprano, currently studying at CCM with William McGraw. The semi-finals take place in New York on March 24, 2019. Learn more at metopera.org/about/auditions/national-council-auditions/.
In addition, CCM’s Mainstage Opera and Studio Opera Series 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 2018-19 Mainstage Opera season concludes with W.A. Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), conducted by Jiannan Cheng with stage direction by Robin Guarino. The opera runs April 12-14, 2019 at CCM’s Corbett Auditorium. Learn more about the production at uc.edu/news/articles/2018/09/n201495.html
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Jordan Alexander is from Sidney, Ohio. He has been seen in The Drowsy Chaperone (Aldolpho), A Raisin in the Sun (Bobo) and West Side Story at Santa Rosa Summer Repertory Theatre. He performed in Gypsy (Tulsa) at Weathervane Playhouse and Runaways (Mex Mongo) at Know Theatre of Cincinnati. At CCM, he appeared in Jesus Christ Superstar (Judas), Lysistrata Jones (Uardo), The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Guys and Dolls, Children of Eden and Big River.
Anya Axel is from Needham, Massachusetts. She has been seen at Kincaid Regional Theatre as Laurey in Oklahoma! and at Reagle Music Theatre in 42nd Street. At CCM, she has appeared in Guys and Dolls (Miss Adelaide), Mack and Mabel (Phyllis Foster), Yeast Nation (Yan the Un-named), A Chorus Line (Tricia, understudy Cassie, Sheila, Maggie), The Merry Widow (Froufrou), American Idiot, Jesus Christ Superstar and Seussical. She originated the role of Ariel in the developmental workshop of Matryoshka at CCM and in New York for Alchemation. Anya is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Bryce Baxter is a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia. He has been seen as Davey in Newsies and Josh in 9 to 5 at Porthouse Theatre in Akron, and as Franz in Rock of Ages and Ru in Merrily We Roll Along at Santa Rosa Summer Repertory Theatre. At CCM, Bryce has performed in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Frollo), Godspell (Sonia), Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus), Sondheim on Sondheim (Matthew Scott), Children of Eden (Adam) and Runaways (Iggy). Bryce is a proud member of AEA.
Aria Braswell is from San Antonio, Texas. Her credits include The Little Mermaid (Ariel), Cabaret and Oliver at Clinton Area Showboat, and Grease and The Man Who Came to Dinner at Wagon Wheel. At CCM, she has performed in Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), Sondheim on Sondheim (Erin Mackey), The Merry Widow, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mack and Mabel and the premiere of They Were You: The Songs of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Her film credits include Mystery Diagnosis for the Discovery Health Channel. Aria released her debut album, Lady Nobody, in May 2018.
Kevin Chlapecka is from Chicago, Illinois. He has been seen in Sister Act and Ghost, the Musical at Lake Dillon Theatre Company, Footloose (Ren) at Kincaid Regional Theatre and Ordinary Days (Warren) at Steel Beam Theatre. At CCM, he appeared in Seussical (Cat in the Hat), Guys and Dolls (Nathan Detroit), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Clopin), Big River (The King), Mack and Mabel (Kessel) and A Chorus Line. Kevin is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Dylan Dougal is from Rochester, New York. He has performed in Oklahoma! (Curly) at Kincaid Regional Theatre and Runaways (AJ) at the Know Theatre of Cincinnati. At CCM, he has been seen in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Saint Aphrodisius), The Theory of Relativity (Oliver), Children of Eden (Ham) and Guys and Dolls.
Kendall McCarthy is from Raleigh, North Carolina. She played Ariel in Footloose at Kincaid Regional Theater, Pilar in Legally Blonde and Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar at North Carolina Theater and Young Groupie in Rock of Ages at Lake Dillon Theater Company. At CCM, she performed as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Julie in The Theory of Relativity, Aphra/Eve understudy in Children of Eden, Florika in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Deidre in Runaways and Gertrude understudy in Seussical. She appears in the films Changeover, Pills, Grace Running and A View from the Bay. Kendall is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Jenny Mollet is from the Bronx, New York. She appeared in Oprah Winfrey’s Broadway production of The Color Purple (Young Celie/Henrietta) and H2O: A Play About Water at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She can be seen in the music video of Eve Ensler’s “One Billion Rising.” At CCM, she appeared in Lysistrata Jones (Myrhrinne), Big River (Alice), Seussical (Sour Kangaroo), Godspell (Joanne) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Esmeralda). She performed with the University of Cincinnati Marching Band at home games during football season. She has appeared in workshops of new works including Nasha America for Alchemation and is featured on Juel Anthony’s EP available on iTunes. Jenny is a proud member of AEA.
Dylan James Mulvaney is from San Diego, California. He has performed in How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the Old Globe, Sons of the Prophet and Spring Awakening at Cygnet Theatre Company, Peter Pan and All Shook Up at Moonlight Stage and Oklahoma! at the Welk Resort. He received a Stage Scene LA award for his work as Peter in Bare: A Pop Opera at Diversionary Theatre. At CCM, he has been seen in Godspell, The Theory of Relativity, Seussical, Mack and Mabel and Runaways. He performed at Joe’s Pub with The Skivvies and in the LA/NYC reading of Living Over the Rainbow. His film and television experience include the current pilot of Love Not Likes, 7th Heaven and Awkwardness. Dylan is an EMC.
Bryn Purvis is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She has performed in Legally Blonde (understudy Pilar, Brooke) at the Lexington Theatre Company, and in Cabaret and A Chorus Line (Bebe) at Summer Lyric Theatre. At CCM, she was seen in Seussical (Mayzie LaBird), A Chorus Line (Kristine), Guys and Dolls (Mimi/Dance Captain), Mack and Mabel, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Duke Ellington’s The Nutcracker Suite. Bryn is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Alex Stone is from McLean, Virginia. He has been seen in Newsies (Jack Kelly) at Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, Dial M for Murder, The 39 Steps, The Bridges of Madison County and Footloose at the Clinton Area Showboat, and in Aftershocks at Signature Theatre. At CCM, he performed in Mack and Mabel (Mack Sennett), Jesus Christ Superstar (Judas), Sondheim on Sondheim (Tom Wopat), Runaways (Eddie), American Idiot and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Quasimodo). Other credits include the developmental workshops of Home Street Home and Nasha America (Yasha) for Alchemation. Alex is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Frankie Thams is from Detroit, Michigan. He has performed in Mamma Mia (Eddie) at Stages St. Louis and in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph), Hairspray (Link Larkin) and Annie Get Your Gun at Tulane Summer Lyric Theater. He was also in The Pirates of Penzance (Frederic) at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. At CCM, he performed The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Phoebus), Guys and Dolls (Sky Masterson), The Theory of Relativity (Ryan), Seussical (Horton), Mack and Mabel, A Chorus Line, American Idiot and Carousel. He appeared in the developmental workshop of Nasha America for Alchemation. Frankie is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Zach Triska is from Chicago, Illinois. He has performed in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Zebulun) at Totem Pole Playhouse, Footloose (Willard) at Kincaid Regional Theatre and Iggy in Runaways at the Know Theatre of Cincinnati. At CCM, his credits include Children of Eden (Cain), in The Theory of Relativity (Adam) and Seussical. He appeared in the developmental workshop of Home Street Home for Alchemation. He served as Assistant Director for the CCM production of Godspell. Zach is an Equity Membership Candidate.
Madelaine Vandenberg is from Ithaca, New York. She has appeared as Natalie in Next to Normal at Porthouse Theatre and Urinetown at Cider Mill Playhouse. At CCM, she has been seen in A Chorus Line (Bebe), American Idiot (Libby), Children of Eden (Aysha understudy Mama Noah), Seussical, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She was seen in the developmental workshops of Home Street Home (Trashley) and Nasha America (Loretta) for Alchemation. Madelaine is an Equity Membership Candidate.
