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Linda Cajigas
Jacobs School of Music
lcajigas@indiana.edu
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Last modified: Thursday, October 13, 2011

IU Jacobs School of Music hosts Met auditions this month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 13, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music will host the Indiana District round of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011, starting at 11 a.m. in the Musical Arts Center. The annual event is free and open to the public.

MET Auditions

The Metropolitan Opera House in New York's Lincoln Center.

This year, the singers will audition from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Depending on the number of entries, the contest will continue from 2 p.m. to approximately 4 p.m. The judges will then deliberate before announcing the winners shortly thereafter.

IU First Lady Laurie Burns McRobbie serves as chairperson for the Bloomington event. Maria Levy, executive administrator for strategic planning at IU Opera Theater, is coordinating the auditions.

"The Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions provide an enormous opportunity for young singers to develop their talents and their careers, and Indiana University is fortunate to be hosting the district auditions for the state," McRobbie said. "With the auditions being held at the MAC, where the stage is a replica of the Met's, these wonderful artists can practically live out their aspirations. It's an honor to be part of such an important day."

Judges for the Indiana District will be Christopher Hahn, general director of Pittsburgh Opera; Mikael Eliasen, head of the Voice and Opera Department at the Curtis Institute of Music; and Jacobs alumna Diane Elias, professional singer and voice teacher.

Indiana is part of the Metropolitan Opera National Council's Central Region, which has three districts; the others are Ohio and Illinois.

The Central Region Finals will take place Nov. 6 at the Music Institute of Chicago. Winners of the regional auditions win a trip to New York City to participate in the National Semi-Finals (March 11, 2012) on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

Approximately 10 of the semi-finalists will be selected as national finalists and will compete in a public concert -- the Grand Finals Concert -- March 18, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The jury awards approximately five Grand Winner prizes of $15,000 each. The concert is broadcast nationwide on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Network.

The remaining National Finalists -- and National Semi-Finalists who did not advance to the National Finals -- will also receive monetary awards to further their studies.

Some previous winners of this elite competition, which identifies the best up-and-coming opera singers throughout the nation and Canada, are IU alumni Sylvia McNair (1982), Elizabeth Futral (1991), Angela Brown (1997), Larry Brownlee (2001) and Jamie Barton (2007). Other well-known singers who were selected as past winners include Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick.

For more information about the Jacobs School of Music, see https://music.indiana.edu.