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| Diamond (right) getting a lesson at Glimmerglass |
"The 23-year-old baritone took first place in Houston Grand Opera's 23rd annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. The winners were selected during last week's Concert of Arias at Wortham Theater Center, the final round in which eight singers each performed two arias. 'I did not expect to win,' Diamond says, 'so it's pretty exciting. HGO is an amazing company, and this competition has a spectacular reputation.' Diamond won with his performances of the arias 'Hai già vinta la causa; from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and 'Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen' from
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Die tote Stadt." Judges for the competition included Frederica von Stade, Patrick Summers and Anthony Freud. More than 700 singers from around the world applied for this year's competition. Contestants vied for $25,000 in cash prizes. Baritone Thomas Florio won the second-place prize, soprano Lauren Snouffer won third place, and bass Adam Lau received the Audience Choice Award. Mark Diamond has accepted an offer to join the Houston Grand Opera Studio beginning in the fall 2011. Biography and pictures of Mark Diamond after the jump. [Source, Source, Source]
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| The winner with Flicka |
