Rocky Mountain Region
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
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Recent
Winners
Rocky Mountain RegionMetropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
| 1997 Jennifer Larson 1998 Michelle Wrighte 1999 Karen Early Evans 2000 Lindsay Killian 2001 Charles Edwin Taylor 2002 Mara Bonde |
2003 Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni 2004 Shauna Keene 2005 Jason Switzer 2006 Nina Yoshida Nelsen 2007 Alek Shrader 2008 Rachel Willis-Sorensen |
1997 Jennifer Larson, soprano (UT District)  Ms.
Larson has been described by USA Today as possessing a "golden
voice." She enjoys a solo performing career that encompasses
regular appearances with many of the nation's finest orchestras and
chamber ensembles, a growing catalogue of recordings, and successful
performances in major operatic roles. An international
semi–finalist in the prestigious Competizione dell' Opera (2001), and
national finalist in the 1997 Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, Ms.
Larson has received honors for her dramatic and vocal artistry as
Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata,
Governess in Britten's The Turn of
the Screw, Frasquita in Carmen,
and the title roles in Floyd's Susannah
and Stravinsky's Le Rossignol
performing with companies including Utah Opera, Toledo Opera, and
Michigan Opera Theatre. She earned high praise for her creation
of the title role in Detroit's world premiere of David Finko's opera Abraham and Hanna. In demand
as a concert soloist, she has been applauded with groups including the
Milwaukee, Utah, Illinois, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras and the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir, singing works from baroque to modern under the
batons of such noted conductors as Keith Lockhart, Andreas Delfs, John
Mauceri, and the late Robert Shaw. A favorite soloist with
contemporary music organizations, Ms. Larson is featured on several
compact–disc recordings of original works, most recently on a 20–disc
Milken Archive/Sony recording of contemporary Jewish opera, and a
Summit Label release of works for horn and voice, with William
Barnewitz of the Milwaukee Symphony. In addition to her stage
work, Ms. Larson possesses a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and
continues to fill invitations to visit university campuses throughout
the United States as a guest lecturer/recitalist. She and her
husband, conductor Scott Larson, recently celebrated the birth of their
third son. |
1998 Michelle Wrighte, mezzo-soprano (UT District)  In 2003 Ms. Wrighte was the
featured
mezzo-soprano for the west coast premiere of Ned Rorem's song cycle, Evidence
of Things Not Seen, headlining San Francisco's "Other Minds
Festival" with the composer in attendance. Her 2002 highlights
include: Prince Ramiro in La Finta Giardiniera for San
Francisco Opera Center, The Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen at
Tulsa Opera, Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri at Pamiro Opera,
Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti at Tampa Opera and performances of
Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben in San Francisco and Oakland,
CA. The Iowa-born mezzo-soprano earned critical praise for her
portrayal of Emilia-- opposite Ben Heppner, Renée Fleming, and
Lucio Gallo-- in Sir Peter Hall's new production of Otello,
which opened the 2001-02 season of Lyric Opera of Chicago. During
Ms. Wrighte's past two seasons at Lyric Opera she has also performed
the roles of Mercédès (Carmen), Giovanna (Rigoletto),
the Tango Singer (The Great Gatsby), the Herdswoman (Jenufa),
and the Second Apparition (Macbeth). While at the Lyric
Opera Center for American Artists, Ms. Wrighte was heard in an operatic
concert at the Ravinia Festival; as Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and
Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at the Grant Park Music; and
in her debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, singing Bernstein's
Songfest. She also collaborated with Lyric
Opera's two composers-in-residence, premiering Ricky Ian Gordon's song Friend
and creating the role of Lucy Cross in the workshop production of
Michael John LaChiusas Lovers and Friends (Chautauqua
Variations). Ms. Wrighte was also featured in the prestigious
"New Works Sampler" for OPERA America's 2001 annual conference in
Atlanta, for which she sang works by John Adams, Michael Ching, and
Tobias Picker. A passionate advocate of Baroque opera, she has
been heard as Armindo in Handel's Partenope in Francisco
Negrin's Glimmerglass Opera production; Ino in Handel's Semele
at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy; and as both Virtue and
the Nurse in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea at Utah
Opera. Ms. Wrighte's portrayal of Meg page in Nicolai's The
Merry Wives of Windsor has been heard at Indianapolis Opera, and she sang Miss Dorothy Snite in Susa's Black
River at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. A successful concert artist, Ms. Wrighte has sung the
alto solos in the Bach St. John Passion under the baton of
Robert Shaw, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Decatur
Symphony. Ms. Wrighte has a B.M.
from Drake University, a M.M. from University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign, and a Certificate of Opera Studies from Temple
University. Michelle has future performances of Handel's Messiah
with the Elgin Symphony, concert performance at the International St.
Bart's Music Festival and the title role of Cinderella in The
Lyric Opera of Chicago's neighborhood program. |
1999 Karen Early Evans, soprano (UT District)  Ms. Evans won both the 1995 and 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Rocky Mountain Region. A native of Seattle, she was a student at Brigham Young University, where she studied with Marcia Baldwin and received a Bachelor in Music. Her training includes the Glimmerglass Young Artist Program and she was a Utah Opera Studio Artist. She made her debut as Fiordiligi in Così fan Tutte at Tacoma Opera in 1999 and "was the audience favorite". Currently Ms. Evans is with the Seattle Opera Chorus and the 2003/04 season is her first year. She first performed with the Seattle Opera in the summer of 2003 in Parsifal. Her favorite opera is Floyd's Susannah. (From a posting on the Seattle Opera website and a review of the Tacoma Opera production.) Ms. Evans is one of the Furies on a recording of Cavalli's La Calisto by Glimmerglass Opera. (Biography not provided by Ms. Evans.) |
2000 Lindsay Killian, soprano (UT District)  Ms. Killian has appeared with the Utah Opera, Utah Lyric Opera, Nashville Opera, Long Island Opera and the Washington East Opera. A National Grand Finals Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2000, she has been the recipient of the Metropolitan Opera Education Fund in both 2001 and 2002. An accomplished concert soloist, Ms. Killian has appeared with the Utah Symphony, Cheyenne Symphony, Salt Lake Symphony and the Tabernacle Choir as well as appearing in recitals in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Russia. Ms. Killian's operatic roles include Violetta in La Traviata, Musetta in La Bohéme, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Juliette in Romeo et Juliette, Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus and Alice Ford in Merry Wives of Windsor. The 2003-2004 performances for Ms. Killian include Violetta for Washington East Opera and Opera del Sol, Handel's Messiah with the Desert Chorale and Orchestra, and Verdi's Requiem with the Utah Valley Chorale and Symphony. Website |
2001 Charles Edwin Taylor, dramatic baritone (CO-WY District)  A native of
Arizona, Mr. Taylor joined The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann
Young Artist Development Program at the beginning of the 2002-2003
season after being selected as a winner of The Metropolitan Opera
National Council Auditions in 2001. Mr. Taylor made his Met debut
last
season in the role of Herald in Otello. During the
2003-2004
Metropolitan Opera Season, he sang the role of Marullo in Rigoletto,
2nd Nazarene in Salome, and Huntsman in Rusalka.
During
the summer of 2004, Mr. Taylor performed the role of Sharpless in Madama
Butterfly
for The Met in the Parks Concert Series. In November of 2003, Mr.
Taylor made his debut with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
performing the role of Francesco in a concert version of I
Masnadieri. During the summer of 2002, Mr. Taylor performed
the
role of Leporello in Don Giovanni
at the Operafestival di Roma. During the 2000-2001 season, Mr.
Taylor
was a member of Opera Colorado's Joseph and Loretta Law Artist
Development Program. He has performed the roles of Marcello in
Amedeo
Vives' Bohemios, Don Giovanni in John Davies' The Three
Little Pigs, Mandarin in Turandot, Lakai in Ariadne auf
Naxos, and Angelotti in Tosca at Opera Colorado. He
has
also performed Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Fort Collins, Jud
Fry in Oklahoma with
Augusta Opera, and Elder McLean in Susannah, Stewpot in South
Pacific and the
Cowardly
Lion in The Wizard of Oz at Utah Festival Opera. Mr.
Taylor has
sung Handel's Messiah with the Larimer Chorale, Carmina
Burana with the Fort Collins Symphony, and Bach's Cantata No. 65
with the Fort Collins Bach Festival. He has presented
recitals in Pueblo, Fort Collins, Loveland, and Prescott, AZ. Mr.
Taylor was
Featured Soloist with the Fort Collins Symphony Christmas Pops Concert
in 1999-2002. Among his numerous awards and honors, Mr. Taylor
was a
prizewinner at the 2002 Liederkranz Foundation Competition and First
Place winner in the 1999 High Plains Singing Competition Senior
Division. Website |
2002 Mara Bonde, soprano (UT District)  Critically
acclaimed
for an electric stage presence and sweet purity of tone, soprano Mara
Bonde has performed throughout the United States and Europe.
Equally at home in both classical and popular styles, Ms. Bonde made
her Boston Pops debut under the direction of Keith Lockhart in "Brush
up your Shakespeare," which was nationally televised on PBS's Evening
at Pops. Also on the concert stage, she has sung with the
Utah, San Diego, Charlotte, New Haven, Stamford, Syracuse, Nashua and
Cape Symphony Orchestras, the Handel & Haydn Society, Boston
Baroque and the Naples Philharmonic. Next December Ms. Bonde
returns to the Naples Philharmonic for their series of Holiday Pops.
She also performs regularly with Boston Musical Theater, both here and
abroad, and has toured with them in Russia and Belgium. She
appears as soloist in Ravel's Trois Beaux Oiseaux du Paradis on
Robert Shaw's Telarc recording Appear and Inspire and is also
the featured soloist on Music for Voices by Allen
Brings, recently released on Capstone Records. A National
Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and
the First Prize winner in the 2003 Annamaria Saritelli-DiPanni Bel
Canto Vocal Scholarship Awards, Ms. Bonde has sung with Opera Omaha,
Glimmerglass Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Company of North Carolina,
National Opera Company (Raleigh), and the Lake George Opera Festival,
in works ranging from Mozart to Mollicone and Sullivan to
Sondheim. In 2007, Ms. Bonde returned to Opera Omaha to create
the role of Laura in the world premiere of Anthony Davis' Wakonda's
Dream. Ms. Bonde holds a bachelor's degree in French from
Mount
Holyoke College and a master's degree from Boston University, where she
was also invited to join the Opera Institute. She has studied at
the Sorbonne in Paris and has sung in music festivals at Tanglewood,
Aspen and at the Britten-Pears School with Joan Sutherland and Richard
Bonynge in Aldeburgh, England. Website |
2003 Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni, tenor (UT District)  Tenor
Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni, a native of Brooklyn, was raised in Palermo,
Italy. Mr. Li Vigni's father, the late Salvatore Lauro Li Vigni,
was
Gioacchino's first mentor and himself a celebrated tenor. Mr. Li
Vigni
made his Metropolitan Opera debut January 23, 2004 as Krushschev in the
opera Boris Godunov, this following his previous appearance on
the Met stage a few months earlier during the Grand Finals Concert for
the National Council's 2003 Met Auditions representing the Rocky
Mountain Region. Under the direction of Maestro Julius Rudel,
Gioacchino sang excerpts from Lucia di Lammermoor and Werther.
The New York Times characterized Gioacchino as "a professional… not far
from the big time… furiously checked by the audience as favorite."
Bernard Holland auspiciously stated in the review: "Mr. Lauro Li Vigni
manfully wrings every possible virtue from the voice given him, and his
career will continue. " Gioacchino returned to The Met during the
2004-05 season covering in Nabucco, Der Rosenkavalier, Samson
et Dalila, and Ariadne auf Naxos. Since his Rocky
Mountain
Region launch he has been on the Met's roster of tenors, and returns in
April 2006 performing the role of Nobleman in the production of Lohengrin.
His New York City engagements also included his covering the title role
in Opera Orchestra of New York's Il Corsaro in March 2004 under
the direction of Eve Queler. Gioacchino's 2003 performance of Edgardo
in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor was considered by many one
of the year's major operatic events in Philadelphia. Critics
characterized his performance as vibrant, full of rage and despair, and
suave. Gioacchino expanded his Donizettian repertoire by taking on
Leicester in Maria Stuarda for Marseilles Opera in June
2005.
Critics characterized his performance as "remarkably refined."
Gioacchino's debut in the French repertoire was with Gounod's Faust
in Sao Paolo, Brazil in May 2005 alongside the Marguerite of Leontina
Vaduva. Gioacchino, a heavier lyric voice, has been flexible enough to
perform in operas such as Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Oper
Frankurt where his rendition of Almaviva was characterized by critics
as "charming, vocally agile, and playfully capable of change." He
took
on Almaviva for Frankfurt Opera's Beijing tour as well. He also
appeared in Frankfurt as Ramiro in Cenerentola of which critics
said he "gives a radiating clear Don Ramiro... very much worth seeing."
His lirico spinto qualities were demonstrated in his taking on Turiddu
in Cavalleria Rusticana in Portland of Port Opera of which a
critic wrote: "As Turridu, tenor Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni was an
equally thrilling discovery. A good looking, little guy with a
voice as
big and warm as Italy... made the most of his farewell to Mama Lucia...
he milked the scene for everything and brought down the house.
The
duets between Pantaleo and Li Vigni were passionate, the sparks almost
tangible, incendiary." Website |
2004 Shauna Keene, coloratura soprano (CO-WY District)  Shauna Keene was born in Santa Barbara, CA. She
is a frequent guest soloist with local symphonies and orchestras, and
is well known in the Colorado opera scene. She has won first
place in
several prestigious national competitions, including the Metropolitan
Opera National Council Auditions (Rocky Mountain Region) and the West
Palm Beach Opera Competition. She was also a national semi-finalist for
the Metropolitan Opera Nation Council Auditions in 2004. She has
received awards from the Dante Alighieri Society, NATS and the Denver
Lyric Opera Guild. For the summers of 2001 and 2002, she was one
of the
youngest singers ever to be invited to attend the Music Academy of the
West, where she studied voice with Marilyn Horne. Shauna has
participated in many public master classes with some of the world's
leading musicians and educators, including Warren Jones, Ashley Putnam,
Frederica von Stade and Diana Soviero among others. Some of her
operatic roles include Adina in L'elisir D'amore, Constance in Dialogues
of the Carmelites, Queen of the Night in Magic Flute,
Despina in Così fan tutte and Hanna Glawari in The
Merry Widow.
In Colorado, Shauna has sung with Opera Fort Collins, Fort Collins
Symphony, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Springs Philharmonic
and Central City Opera among others. Shauna holds a Bachelor of
Music
from the University of Colorado and currently is pursuing
a Master of Music at Colorado State University. Upcoming performances
include Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opera Fort Collins and Lia
in L'enfant prodigue at Colorado State University. |
2005 Jason Switzer, baritone (CO-WY District)  Jason Switzer, an Alaskan Native, is currently in his fourth year as a resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he studies with William Schuman. While at AVA, he has performed many roles including Il Conte in Le Nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Orest in Elektra, and Dulcamara in L'Elisir d'Amore. Mr. Switzer has participated in numerous young artist programs. This last summer he performed the Four Villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann and covered Boniface in Massenet's Le Jongleur de Notre Dame at Central City Opera. At the Tanglewood Music Festival, he performed L'Arbre and Le Fauteuil in L'Enfant et les sortileges. He also performed Don Alfonso with Opera North. In 2004, Jason received a study grant from the Licia Albanese/Puccini Foundation and was also awarded the 1st Prize in the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition. Upcoming engagements include Robert in Iolanthe by Tchaikovsky and Schaunard in La Bohème at AVA. He will be returning to Central City this summer as the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Hel Helson in Paul Bunyan. |
2006 Nina Yoshida Nelsen (UT District)  Hailed as a "rich voiced, expressive mezzo
soprano" by San Francisco Classical Voice and "appealingly direct and
honest in tone and bearing," by Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe, Nina
Yoshida Nelsen was awarded first place in the
Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, held in Denver,
Colorado. She sang in the National Semi-Finals in New
York City. Engagements for the 2005-2006 season include Rebecca
Nurse
in The Crucible with Utah Festival Opera, Tisbe in Cenerentola
with Pacific Repertory Opera, Mezzo soloist in Encore! Encore!--
a gala concert for Livermore Valley Opera, and Mezzo soloist with the
Magic Valley Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Nelsen was a national grand
finalist in the prestigious 2005 Loren L. Zachary Society
Competition.
Nina Yoshida Nelsen spent the 2004-2005 season as an
Artist-In-Residence with Orange County Opera where she performed the
role of Marquise de Berkenfeld in Daughter of the Regiment in
their educational outreach program. Ms. Nelsen made her
professional
debut with Opera Providence in 2002 as Tisbe in Cenerentola.
She subsequently appeared with the company as Dorabella in their
English version of Così fan tutte. In 2003 Ms.
Nelsen
made her European debut singing the title role in Carmen and
the role of Antonia's Mother in Tales of Hoffmann with Komische
Kammer Opera of Munich. Also in recent seasons, Nina was heard as
Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Livermore Valley Opera and Kate
Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Opera Santa Barbara, with
whom she also covered the role of Suzuki. Other notable roles
include
Idamante in Idomeneo, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream,
and Lulu in Lukas Foss' The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,
all of which she performed with the Opera Institute at Boston
University. In 2004, Ms. Nelsen won first prize in the Performing
Arts
Foundation Vocal Competition, the Profant Foundation Vocal Competition
and the Santa Barbara Foundation Vocal Competition. She was a
national
finalist in the West Bay Opera Superstar Competition and the Palm
Springs Opera Competition. Ms. Nelsen, a native of Santa Barbara,
CA,
earned her M.M. in Vocal Performance from Boston University in 2003,
where she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda. Nina earned her B.M.
from
Boston University in Violin Performance and Psychology, where she
graduated Magna Cum Laude. Ms. Nelsen
currently is at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Website |
2007 Alek Shrader (CO-WY District)  Alek
Shrader is a graduate student at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in
Oberlin, Ohio, where he studies with Professor of Singing Salvatore
Champagne. He made his professional debut as Almaviva in
Rossini’s Barber
of Seville last summer with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Last
January, he made his New York debut with Gotham Chamber Opera as
Florville in Rossini’s Il signor Bruschino. Other recent
roles
include Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Die
lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Le chevalier in Dialogues des
Carmélites, and Tony in West Side Story at Oberlin
Conservatory. He was a Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of
Saint
Louis for two seasons. He has attended the Music Academy of the
West
under the tutelage of Marilyn Horne, and has participated in
masterclasses with such esteemed personalities as Frank Corsaro,
Sherrill Milnes, and Thomas Quasthoff. In March, he travels to
Rome to
work with Renata Scotto in the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Opera Studio. In June, he will attend the Merola Opera Program in
San
Francisco and sing the role of Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola.
Next fall he will attend the Juilliard Opera Center in New York. |
2008 Rachel Willis-Sorensen (Utah District)  Ms.
Willis-Sorensen is an undergraduate student at the Brigham Young
University School of Music from where she will graduate with a bachelor
of music performance in April, 2008. She recently performed the
role of La Contessa Almaviva in BYU's production of Le Nozze di
Figaro, and Musetta in La Bohème. Her stage
credits also include The Evil Queen in Semour Barab's Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs (Washington East Opera's Bravo Troupe), Golde
in Fiddler on the Roof, and Meg Boyd in Damn Yankees.
In 2007 she won the Nancy Perry Marriot BYU Singer of the Year award,
recorded a CD for BYU's Sofie's Daughters Organization, and
participated in the AIMS program in Graz Austria. Rachel Was awarded
first place at Musicfest Northwest in 2005 where she appeared in
concert with the Spokane Symphony. She is the current recipient
of the Shirley Oscarson Scholarship. Rachel will participate in
Utah Festival Opera's Young artists program this summer. She is a
student of Darrell Babidge. |