2014 George London Awards Competition for Singers Hosts Finals Today at The Morgan

Over three days of preliminary auditions on February 17-19, 2014, 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers competed to reach the final round of the 43rd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

Today, February 21, 24 finalists will perform for the judges and audience, hoping to win a George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971.

The competition's final round is a public event: each singer performs one selection, and the winners are announced, all at The Morgan Library & Museum's Gilder Lehrman Hall on Friday, February 21, at 4:00 PM. After the finalists' performances, the audience is invited to a reception while the judges deliberate. The audience is then asked back into the hall for the announcement of the winners.

The singers will be competing for six George London Awards and six George London Encouragement Awards:

• Two George London Awards of $10,000
• One George London Award, in memory of Lloyd Rigler, of $10,000
• One George London/Leonie Rysanek Award of $10,000
• One George London Award given to a Canadian singer, of $10,000
• One George London/Kirsten Flagstad Award sponsored by the New York Community Trust, of $10,000, given to a potential Wagnerian singer
• Six George London Encouragement Awards of $1,000

In addition, all of the finalists who do not win George London Awards or Encouragement Awards will be given a $500 Honorable Mention.

The 2013 George London Award winners were sopranos Felicia Moore, Jessica Muirhead, and Marcy Stonikas; tenors Dominic Armstrong and Noah Baetge; and baritones Jamez McCorkle and Nicholas Pallesen.

Tickets for the competition's final round are priced at $20, $10 for subscribers to the George London Foundation Recital Series. For tickets, information, or to join London Foundation mailing list, call (212) 956-2809, or e-mail info@georgelondon.org.

This year's panel of judges includes opera stage director Bruce Donnell, former Metropolitan Opera administrator Alfred F. Hubay, George London Foundation President Nora London, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, former Metropolitan Opera leading tenor and current voice professor George Shirley, and performing arts consultant Thurmond Smithgall. The competition pianist is Liora Maurer, an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera.

Since 1971, the annual competition of The George London Foundation for Singers has been giving its George London Awards, and a total of more than $2 million, to an outstanding roster of young American and Canadian opera singers who have gone on to international stardom - the list of past winners includes Christine Brewer, Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Catherine Malfitano, James Morris, Matthew Polenzani, Sondra Radvanovsky, Neil Shicoff, and Dawn Upshaw.

One of the oldest vocal competitions in the United States and Canada, the George London Foundation Awards Competition offers among the most substantial awards. As is seldom the case in musical competitions, no fee is charged to the applicants or competitors, a pianist is provided for the competition rounds, and prizes are awarded immediately.

After the competition, the George London Foundation's 2013-14 season continues with two recitals:

• John Relyea, bass, and Lori Guilbeau, soprano, with Warren Jones, piano. Ms. Guilbeau is a 2010 George London Award winner. Sunday, March 9, 2014, at 4:30 PM
• Christine Brewer, soprano, and Dominic Armstrong, tenor, with Craig Rutenberg, piano. Mr. Brewer is a 1991 George London Award winner; Dominic Armstrong just won the award in March 2013. Sunday, April 6, 2014, at 4:30 PM

Several recent George London Award winners including Lori Guilbeau, with pianist Warren Jones, will be featured in an upcoming segment of The McGraw Hill Financial Young Artists Showcase, hosted by Robert Sherman, which airs on WQXR on Wednesday nights at 9:00 PM and is also available for online streaming.

The goal of the London Foundation, the support and nurturing of young singers, was an abiding interest of the great American bass-baritone George London, who devoted a great part of the time and energy of his later years to this purpose. "Remembering his difficult road to success, George wanted to devise a way to make the road a little easier for future generations of singers," said George London Foundation President Nora London. Initially created under the auspices of the National Opera Institute, the George London Awards program has been administered since 1990 directly by the Foundation as a living legacy to George London's own exceptional talent and generosity.

DETAILS:

Friday, February 21, 2014, at 4:00 PM

Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum

225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York City

The George London Foundation for Singers Presents

The 43rd Annual George London Foundation Awards Competition -

Final Round and Awards Presentation

Tickets: $20, $10 to George London Foundation Recital Series subscribers

For reservations and information, call (212) 956-2809, or e-mail info@georgelondon.org

www.georgelondon.org