Manhattan School of Music Names Five Winners in the Annual Ades Vocal Competition

Last evening (Thursday, April 10), Manhattan School of Music announced the winners of the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition, held for a fifth year in the Ades Performance Space at the School.

The winners include:

First Prize - Leela Subramaniam, soprano;

Two Second Prize winners - Katherine Saik, soprano; Megan Samarin, mezzo-soprano

Two Third Prize winners - Hannah DeBlock, soprano; and Margaret Newcomb, soprano

Cash prizes totaling up to $40,000 were awarded. The Ades Vocal Competition was created to encourage and foster the most promising and deserving young singers at Manhattan School of Music. The award is given to provide career-entry funding for graduating singers of outstanding professional potential in opera. The funding may support career advancement in any area including private instruction (vocal technique, coaching, diction, movement, acting, audition prep); physical conditioning; creation/recording demo or debut CD; accompanists' fees; agent's fee; professional travel; living expenses during professional internship; wardrobe. All vocalists entered the competition at the recommendation of their teachers with the requirement that they must be ready to launch a professional career. The judges for the final round included an outside panel of F. Paul Driscoll, editor,Opera News; Lauren Flanigan, soprano and MSM graduate; and Diana Soviero, soprano, recipient of the 1979 Richard Tucker Award.

Funding for the Ades Vocal Competition was made possible by a generous gift from Joan Taub and Alan M. Ades, longtime friends and benefactors to the School.

First Place winner is Leela Subramaniam, soprano, who is currently finishing her Professional Studies certificate at the MSM, where she received her Master of Music degree and is a student of Marlena Malas. She is a 2013 and 2014 District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshanna Foundation. Leela will be seen singing the role of Angelica in Haydn's Orlando Paladino to be staged by the Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater on April 30, and May 2 and 4. Her previous credits include the title role in Massenet's Thaïs performed at the School in December 2012. Leela is a Los Angeles native.

Pictured: Joan Taub Ades and Leela Subramaniam

Photo Credit: Brian Hatton