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.

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Three CCM Students Progress to Met Opera Regional Auditions in Chicago

Congratulations to the following winners of the Metropolitan Opera District Council Auditions, which were held on Oct. 20 at CCM:

• soprano Chabrelle Denise Williams, student of Barbara Paver at CCM
• tenor Yi Li, student of David Adams at CCM
• bass-baritone Thomas Richards, student of William McGraw at CCM
• baritone Reginald Reggie Smith Jr, student of Everett McCorvey at the University of Kentucky

These singers will progress to the Regional Auditions in Chicago on Nov. 4.

CCM Hosts Met Opera Regional Auditions This Saturday

Hear the opera stars of tomorrow compete for a chance to “win the Met” and kick-start a major operatic career at the Metropolitan Opera District Council Auditions for Southern Ohio. This free event will take place 10 a.m.–6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, in Robert J. Werner Recital Hall at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).

Local audiences have the opportunity to sample operatic selections sung by some of Southern Ohio’s most talented young singers throughout the day at this event!

CCM Announces Fall 2012 Calendar of Major Events

CCM is delighted to announce its fall schedule of performances. The largest single source of performing arts events in the state of Ohio, CCM presents more than 100 public performances this fall, ranging from faculty and guest artist concerts to fully supported opera, drama and musical theatre productions.

This fall’s schedule includes a Beethoven Festival (Sept. 14 – Oct. 12), a Kurt Weill Festival (Oct. 19 – March 10) and a Cage Centennial Celebration (Nov. 5 – Nov. 29). CCM also collaborates with Cincinnati Opera on public workshop performances of two new American operas (Oct. 27 – 28 and Dec. 4 – 5) and presents a pair of concerts in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts (Oct. 10 and Oct. 28).

Download a digital copy of CCM’s Fall 2012 Calendar of Major Events today. Physical copies are also available at the CCM Box Office in the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts.

CCM Hosts Metropolitan Opera National Council Southern Ohio Regional Auditions on Oct. 22

Hear the stars of tomorrow compete for a chance to “win the Met,” and kick start a major operatic career, at the Metropolitan Opera District Council Auditions for Southern Ohio. This free event is open to the public and will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22 in Robert J. Werner Recital Hall in CCM Village.

CCM Students Advance to Met Opera Central Region Finals in Chicago

Congratulations to two of our own: soprano Xi Wang and mezzo-soprano Audrey Walstrom, both of whom have advanced to the next round in the Metropolitan Opera National Council (MONC) Auditions!

Amongst stiff competition, Wang and Walstrom were singled out by the judges and now move on to the Central Region Finals in Chicago. Also receiving accolades was mezzo-soprano Deborah Nansteel, who was given an encouragement award by the judges.

MONC is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. Many of the world’s foremost singers, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick have received awards from the National Council. Annually, approximately 100 former auditioners appear in Metropolitan Opera productions.