CCM Student Elena Villalón Named Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 National Council Auditions

CCM student Elena Villalón (center) with the other winners of the 2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. From left to right: Miles Mykkanen, William Guanbo Su, Elena Villalón, Thomas Glass and Michaela Wolz. Photography courtesy of Ken Howard.

We are thrilled to report that current CCM student Elena Villalón has been named a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 National Council Auditions! After a months-long series of auditions involving more than 1,000 singers at the district, regional and national levels, a panel of expert judges named Villalón and four other singers as the winners of the 65th annual Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $15,000 cash prize. You can learn more about all of the 2019 National Council Winners by visiting www.metopera.org/about/auditions/national-council-auditions/winners.

Senior Voice Performance major Elena Villalón has been named a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 National Council Auditions.

A soprano from Austin, Texas, who studies with CCM Professor William McGraw, Villalón joins Houston Grand Opera’s studio artist program in the 2019-20 season, after being a finalist and winning the audience prize in the 31st annual Eleanor McCollum Competition. She has been a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and at Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. Her CCM performances include the roles of Adele in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone and Miss Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring.

As previously reported, fellow CCM-trained singers  Joshua Wheeker, tenor (CCM Voice 2007-2012); Murrella Parton (MM Voice, 2017) also advanced to the Met’s National Council Semi-Finals this year.

This marks the second consecutive year that CCM singers have “won the Met,” as CCM alumna Jessica Faselt (MM Voice, 2016) was one of five singers who won the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. You can learn more about Faselt’s win courtesy of the Cincinnati Business Courier.

CCM alumni and students frequently advance to the final rounds of the Met’s National Council Auditions, which is widely considered to be the nation’s most prestigious vocal competition. In 2017, four CCM alumni competed in the semi-finals, including Faselt; 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 during that year’s national competition.

About the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions

Following the creation of the Met’s National Council in the 1952-53 season, the first Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions took place in 1954 in the Twin Cities. For over 60 years, the annual competition has helped launch the careers of countless young singers, including some of opera’s greatest stars. Every season, over 100 former participants in the National Council Auditions appear on the Met roster.

The district-level and regional auditions, held across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, are sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council and administered by National Council members and hundreds of volunteers from across the country. Currently in its 65th year, the program has launched the careers of such well-known stars as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt, Lawrence Brownlee, Thomas Hampson, Eric Owens, Angela Meade, Nadine Sierra, Jamie Barton and Ryan Speedo Green. The competition garnered international attention with the release of the 2008 feature-length documentary The Audition, directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, which chronicled the 2007 National Council Auditions season and Grand Finals Concert.

 

CCM Alumna Jessica Faselt Competes as Met Opera National Council Auditions Finalist

Update: Jessica Faselt is among five singers who won the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York. Read more in the Cincinnati Business Courier: https://bit.ly/2KM95Jl

CCM alumna Jessica Faselt, soprano, ( MM Voice, 2016) competes in the Grand Finals concert of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions this Sunday, April 29, 2018, in New York.

The prestigious competition for young singers has four rounds: District, Regional, Semi-Final and Final. Ten of the semi-finalists were chosen to compete in the final round, where five of them will be pronounced winners. Each winner receives $15,000, and the other finalists receive $5,000 each.

CCM alumni and students frequently advance to the final rounds of the Met’s National Council Auditions. In 2017, four CCM alumni competed in the semi-finals, including Faselt; 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 addition to Faselt, CCM Artist Diploma in Opera Performance student Brandon Russell was also a semi-finalist in this year’s Met’s National Council Auditions. He competed in the semi-final round on April 22, and was awarded $1,500.

Faselt will compete against some of the top young singers in the country this Sunday, April 29, on the stage of the Met Opera. Read more about her on her professional website and in the bio below:

Jessica Faselt.

American soprano, Jessica Faselt, is gaining stature as a promising young professional with an exciting voice. Jessica is known for her “keen expression and impressive delivery” in performance (Music in Cincinnati).

Faselt most recently sang on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera on April 22 as a semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the second year in a row and advanced on to the Grand Finals Concert. Jessica’s first appearance on the Metropolitan Opera stage was in March of 2017 as a semi-finalist.

Faselt was a Studio Artist with the Florida Grand Opera in Miami for its 2017-18 season covering the roles of Salome in Richard Strauss’s Salome and Florencia in Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas.

​She was an Emerging Young Artist with the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices in Reno, Nevada, where she studied with internationally-acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Dolora Zajick in the summers of 2016 and 2017.

Faselt was a semi-finalist in the Elizabeth Connell Prize International Vocal Competition. She received the 2nd Place Award at the Opera Columbus Cooper-Bing International Voice Competition in 2017. She received an Encouragement Award at the Marcello Giordanni International Voice Competition in 2017. She was also a semi-finalist of the Eleanor McCollum Voice Competition with the Houston Grand Opera in February of 2016.

She was a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the summer of 2015 and was again engaged with the company in the summer of 2016, covering the title role of Ariadne in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos. In Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ 2nd annual Center Stage Concert of 2016, Faselt sang Donna Anna in the first act duet of Don Giovanni and The Marschallin in Strauss’ famous trio of Der Rosenkavalier with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Stephen Lord.

She performed the role of Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at the McAninch Arts Center in Chicago with the New Philharmonic Orchestra in January 2016. Other roles performed include Hanna in The Merry Widow, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito and Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw.

Faselt completed her masters degree at CCM where she was the recipient of the prestigious Corbett Award and received her bachelor of music from the University of Iowa with honors.

About the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions
The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. Known as the venue for the world’s greatest voices, the Metropolitan Opera holds National Council Auditions throughout the United States and Canada each year. The goal of the National Council Auditions is to discover promising young singers, give singers from around the country a chance to be heard by the major opera companies of the U.S. and Canada, and find potential participants for the Lindemann Young Artist Development program, an opera training program sponsored by the Met.

For more than six decades, this competition for exceptionally talented singers from across the country has helped launch the careers of some of opera’s greatest stars, including Stephanie Blythe, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Patricia Racette and Deborah Voigt — as well as, more recently, Lawrence Brownlee and Angela Meade.

View a full list of this year’s National Council Auditions Grand Finals Winners at metopera.org/about/auditions/nationalcouncil.

Are you a CCM Alumnus with news? Stay in touch by sharing your story with us!

CCM Alumna Tamara Wilson Receives Glowing Reviews for Her Metropolitan Opera Debut

Soprano Tamara Wilson (BM Voice, 2004).

Soprano Tamara Wilson (BM Voice, 2004) recently made her Metropolitan Opera debut, singing the title role in the Met’s revival of Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida and leaving the critics gushing in the process!

In his review for the New York Times, Zachary Woolfe writes, “Ms. Wilson’s voice is most arresting in the laserlike authority of her high notes, but she softens the steel for sensitive moments, as when she dreams of escape with Radames in the third act… Her voice blooms with her palpable involvement in her own story: Her singing is urgent, her physical performance restrained yet powerful.”

Writing for New York Classical Review George Grella observes, “With a combination of unerring pitch, exacting vibrato, careful dynamics and excellent phrasing, [Wilson] let the character of Verdi’s lines speak for themselves, rather than forcing her own vocal personality onto them. Her individual presence came through with a consistent, gripping intensity that was clear with every note.”

During her time at CCM, Wilson studied with Barbara Honn.

Below, watch a featurette on Opera Australia’s 2009 production of Aida, which also featured Wilson in the title role.

Learn more about the Metropolitan Opera’s current production of Aida by visitingwww.metopera.org/opera/aida-verdi-tickets.

Find a full list of Wilson’s upcoming engagements by visiting www.tamarawilsonsoprano.com.

CCM Welcomes Accomplished Pianist Lydia Brown to its Opera Faculty

Please join us in welcoming Lydia Brown to CCM’s Department of Opera!

CCM Dean Peter Landgren has announced the appointment of pianist Lydia Brown to the faculty of CCM’s Department of Opera. Brown joins CCM as Associate Professor of Music in Opera/Voice Coaching beginning in August of 2014.

Brown has performed extensively as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout the world. A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, she currently serves as assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera.

Brown won the Second Prize of the 1996 New Orleans International Piano Competition and was honored as an NFAA Presidential Scholar in the Arts.

Her recital appearances include notable venues such as the Salle Cortot, the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, the Dusseldorf InselFestival, Alice Tully Hall, 92nd St. Y, Caramoor, the Goethe Institute of New York, the Phillips Gallery and Steinway Hall, among others.

Brown holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the Juilliard School as well as degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Yale University. She studied art song with Elly Ameling and pianist Rudolf Jansen and has served on the musical coaching staffs of the Spoleto Festival USA, Opera Cleveland, Chautauqua Institute Voice Program, the Marlboro Music Festival and the Ravinia Steans Institute.

Learn more about CCM’s accomplished faculty by visitingccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/faculty.

CCM Opera Scholarship Competition Brings Bright Young Stars to the Stage on March 16

CCM invites local audiences to hear tomorrow’s opera stars today, as CCM hosts its prestigious scholarship competition beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium. Admission to this event is free, and reservations are not required. Audience members may enter and exit Corbett Auditorium at appropriate times throughout the day.

Twenty-three current and incoming young artists will compete for approximately $100,000 in tuition grants and $62,500 in other named awards, including the Corbett Award, Italo Tajo Memorial Award, Andrew White Memorial Award, Seybold-Russell Award and John Alexander Memorial Award. Each contestant will be judged on the basis of voice, acting, language, musicianship and style in a complete dramatic performance of an aria.

A panel of judges composed of world-renowned opera-industry professionals will select the winners. The judges’ panel for this year’s competition includes:

• Peter Kazaras, Director of Opera at UCLA, Professor of Music at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and Artistic Director of the Seattle Young Artists Program
• Kevin Murphy, Professor of Practice and Head Opera Coach at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Opera Theater and director of music administration at the New York City Opera
• Lenore Rosenberg, Associate Artistic Administrator of the Metropolitan Opera

The winners will be announced on Saturday afternoon, March 16, following the conclusion of the competition.

Janelle Gelfand Reviews CCM’s Latest Opera Fusion Workshop

The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Janelle Gelfand shares her thoughts on our latest Opera Fusion workshop production, Morning Star, in today’s installment of the Arts in Focus blog. You can read her review here.

CCM and Cincinnati Opera presented public workshop performances of Ricky Ian Gordon and William M. Hoffman‘s Morning Star earlier this week. The workshop was filmed for a forthcoming documentary focusing on Opera Fusion: New Works, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. You can learn more about this documentary here.

Opera Fusion: New Works is generously funded by a $300,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

‘CityBeat’ Previews Next Opera Fusion Workshop

‘Morning Star’ composer Ricky Ian Gordon.

Anne Arenstein previews Opera Fusion‘s next workshop in this week’s issue of CityBeat. View the story online here.

CCM and Cincinnati Opera will present public workshop performances of Ricky Ian Gordon and William M. Hoffman‘s Morning Star Dec. 4 (at Memorial Hall in downtown Cincinnati) and Dec. 5 (at CCM’s Cohen Family Studio Theater). This workshop is being filmed for a forthcoming documentary focusing on Opera Fusion: New Works, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. You can learn more about this documentary here. Opera Fusion: New Works is generously funded by a $300,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Tickets for CCM’s presentation become available at noon on Monday, Dec. 3 – visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Learn more about Morning Star here.

CCM and Cincinnati Opera Present New American Opera ‘Morning Star’ Dec. 4 and 5

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CCM’s Department of Opera teams up with Cincinnati Opera in the second of two installments of Opera Fusion: New Works 2012, a program offering composers and librettists the opportunity to workshop a new opera during a 10-day residency. CCM’s public workshop performance of Morning Star, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon with libretto by William M. Hoffman, will be presented at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5 in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater.

The workshop will be directed by Ron Daniels, who staged the world premiere of the new American opera Il Postino at LA Opera in 2010. Metropolitan Opera regular Steven White will conduct the piece. Admission to Morning Star is free but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Dec. 3 – visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

CCM Announces Updated Event Information for November and December 2012

Today, we are delighted to provide you with CCM’s updated schedule of major events for November and December 2012. All updated listings are highlighted in red.

All events listed below take place in CCM Village on the campus of the University of Cincinnati unless otherwise indicated. Admission is free to many CCM performances, although some events do require purchased tickets or reservations. Please see individual event information for details and ordering information.

All event dates and programs are subject to change. Visit ccm.uc.edu or contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 for the most current event information.

Cincinnati Enquirer Reviews Opera Fusion Workshop Performance of ‘Champion’

The Cincinnati Enquirer‘s Steven Rosen was in attendance at Saturday’s public workshop of Champion, the new American opera composed by Terence Blanchard with a libretto by Michael Cristofer.

In his review of the performance, Rosen states, “Judging from the enthusiastic audience response, the opera may become a champion in more ways than one. One person asked, to general overall approval, if he would have to go all the way to Saint Louis to see the full opera, wishing Cincinnati Opera would itself stage it. (Several of the CCM students will be in the Saint Louis production.)”

You can read Rosen’s review in its entirety here.