Bass-Baritone Donovan Singletary Gives German TV Interview

A native of Crestview, Florida, Mr. Singletary received his Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Stetson University in Deland, Florida, and pursued additional music studies at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. He is a Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals Winner, where he was the youngest competitor, and won the Met's then-General Director, Joseph Volpe Award. He was the 2011 Sullivan Foundation Major Grand Winnter and was awarded the 2011 Vienna Prize by the George London Foundation. He is also a top prize winner in several other competitions, including First Prize in the 2010 George London Foundation Competition, Second Prize in the 2010 Loren L. Zachary International Vocal Competition, First Prize in the 2009 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, First Prize in the 2009 Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition, Second Prize in the 2009 Mario Lanza Vocal Competition, Second Prize in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Competition, First Prize in the Mt. Dora Festival Competition, First Prize in the Heinz Rehfuss Singing Actors Competition, and he was awarded the Betty Allen Award from the Sullivan Foundation. He was also named the 2010 World Premiere Artist for the Negro Spiritual Foundation. For more information, visit his official website here.

Listen to MET National Council Auditions Winner Janai Brugger

Find out more about the young soprano by clicking here.

Tenor Alek Shrader to Make Kansas City Recital Debut

Alek Shrader singing at the MET in 2007

"Rising-star tenor Alek Shrader will sing a free Harriman-Jewell Series Discovery Concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 19, at the Folly Theater (300 W. 12th St.), in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Shrader and pianist Allen Perriello will make their Kansas City recital debut with a program of arias and songs by Bellini, Fauré, Liszt, Mozart, Nevin, Rossini, Stravinsky, Thomson, and Turina. The young American tenor, featured in the Metropolitan Opera’s documentary The Audition, has critics in a dither. 'Everything about this artist is natural and effortless, so different from just about everybody else,' reported San Francisco Classical Voice. The New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini wrote 'High C is Mr. Shrader’s money note, and the audience went wild after his full-voiced final one.' The Cleveland native is the

"Life Is Short, Opera Is Long" - The New York Times

Watch a behind-the-scenes video of young singers from this year's Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/05/19/magazine/100000000823450/life-is-short-opera-is-long.html.

Five Winners Chosen in MET National Council Auditions

Finalists pre-concert (left to right): Joseph Lim, Joseph Barron, Deanna Breiwick, Ryan Speedo
Green, Philippe Sly, Sasha Djihanian, Michelle Johnson and Nicholas Masters (Photo: Gothamist)

Of the eight singers selected from 1,500 that participated in the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions, five were each named winners of a $15,000 prize yesterday. Curiously no mezzo-soprano or tenor voices were represented, except the emcee Joyce DiDonato and the entertainment for the day Lawrence Brownlee. The winners included Michelle Johnson, Joseph Barron, Ryan Speedo Green, Joseph Lim, Philippe Sly. The Sunday concert was conducted by Patrick Summers and the audience nearly filled the cavernous Metropolitan Opera.

How ever you want to describe it, not politically correct, tasteless or even uncouth, the writer Mike Silverman of the Associate Press ends his review thusly: "Brownlee is probably the closest thing there is to a black American superstar in opera these days, so it was especially heartening that two of the winners, Johnson and Green, also are black." [Source, Source]

Finalist For MET National Council Auditions Announced

"The Metropolitan Opera announced the names of eight finalists who will sing in the 2011 National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on March 13 at 3:00 p.m. with the Met Orchestra conducted by Patrick Summers. 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. They were chosen from nearly 1500 singers who participated in the auditions held in 41 districts and 14 regions throughout the United States and Canada, sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Some winners are invited to join the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. The Grand Finals Concert will be hosted by renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Tenor Lawrence Brownlee, a Met star and 2001 Auditions winner, will perform during the judges' deliberations once the auditions part of the program is over." Names and photos of the eight finalists are after the jump. [Source]