Eight Finalists Named for Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on February 22

The Metropolitan Opera today announced the names of eight finalists who will sing in the 2009 National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on February 22 at 3:00 p.m., with the Met Orchestra conducted by Patrick Summers. The finalists are: Paul Appleby, tenor from South Bend, Indiana; Noah A. Baetge, tenor from Seattle, Washington; Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor from Durham, North Carolina; Kiri Dyan Deonarine, soprano from Fair Lawn, New Jersey; Jessica Julin, soprano from Danville, California; Sung Eun Lee, tenor from Seoul, South Korea; Sarah Mesko, mezzo-soprano from Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Nadine Sierra, soprano from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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. Equally important is their 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 1800 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 Grand Finals Concert will be hosted by former winner Thomas Hampson. Dolora Zajick, a leading mezzo-soprano with the Met and a former Auditions winner, will perform during the judges' deliberations once the auditions part of the program is over.

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, February 22 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.