The Metropolitan Opera today announced the names of nine finalists who will sing in the 2010 National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on March 14 at 3:00 p.m., with the Met Orchestra conducted by Marco Armiliato. The finalists are: Leah Crocetto, soprano from Adrian, Michigan and Oxford, Connecticut; Lori Guilbeau, soprano from Golden Meadow, Louisiana; Rena Harms soprano from Santa Fe, New Mexico; Haeran Hong, soprano from Kang Won, South Korea; Hyo Na Kim, mezzo-soprano from Seoul, South Korea; Maya Lahyani, mezzo-soprano from Hod-HaSharon, Israel; Elliot Madore, Baritone from Toronto, Canada; Nathaniel Peake, tenor from Humble, Texas, and Rachel Willis-Sorensen, soprano from Tri-Cities, Washington.
The Grand Finals Concert will be hosted by leading mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Frederica von Stade, a Met star and former Auditions winner, will perform during the judges' deliberations once the auditions part of the program is over.
The finalists, between the ages of 20 and 30 years old, will be competing for individual cash prizes of $15,000 each at the Grand Finals Concert. The National Council Audition process was recently captured in an acclaimed documentary, The Audition, which was shown on PBS and released on DVD. Even more important than the prize money is the contestants' chance to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra on the historic opera house stage before an audience that will include opera company executives, artist managers, music critics, and other opinion-makers of the music world. They were chosen from nearly 1500 singers who participated in the auditions held in 45 districts and 15 regions throughout the United States and Canada, sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Given the reach of the auditions, the number of applicants, and the long tradition associated with them, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions are considered the most prestigious in North America for singers seeking to launch an operatic career. Some winners are invited to join the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
The Audition, directed by Susan Froemke, has increased awareness and interest in these auditions. The documentary, which has been hailed by audiences and critics alike will be aired again on New York's WNET Channel 13 again on Monday, March 15.
Past winners of the Met Auditions include many of today's leading operatic artists such as Renée Fleming, Hei-Kyung Hong, Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Nathan Gunn, Ben Heppner, and Samuel Ramey. During a typical opera season, over one hundred alumni of the Auditions are on the Met roster.
The Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, March 14 at 3 p.m. is open to the public. Tickets from $15 to $75 are available at the Met Box Office, by phone at 212-362-6000, or at the Met's web site, www.metopera.org.
