Twelve exceptionally talented young singer-actors from the United States, United Kingdom and China have been selected to compete for top prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 in the finals of the 2011 Lotte Lenya Competition, to be held on April 16, 2011, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Judges for this year's finals will be Tony Award-winning singer-actress Judy Kaye, Broadway and Encores! music director Rob Berman, and Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization president and Chairman of the Board of the American Theater Wing, Theodore S. Chapin.
Held annually by the
Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, the
Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest that recognizes talented young singer-actors, aged 19-30, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire, and emphasizes the acting of songs within a dramatic context.
For the 2011 competition, contestants were required to prepare four selections: an aria from the opera or operetta repertoire; two songs from the American musical theater repertoire (one pre-1968 and one from 1968 or later); and a theatrical selection by
Kurt Weill,
Lotte Lenya's husband and one of the most versatile and influential theater composers of the 20th century (The Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Lady in the Dark, Street Scene). Finalists were selected from a group of thirty semi-finalists who auditioned on March 11-12 in New York City for adjudicator/coaches
David Loud,
Carolyn Marlow and Vicki Shaghoian.
The 2011 finalists are:Alisa Suzanne Jordheim, soprano (Appleton, WI)
Matt Leisy, tenor (New York, NY)
Jing Lin, soprano (Putian, China)
Caitlin Mathes, mezzo-soprano (Dayville, CT)
Chris Pinnella, bari-tenor (Brielle, NJ)
Daniel Schwait, baritone (Baltimore, MD)
Emma Sewell, soprano (London, England)
Jacob Lewis Smith, bass/baritone (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Peabody Southwell, mezzo-soprano (Los Angeles, CA)
Trevor Strader, tenor (Queensbury, NY)
John Viscardi, tenor (Philadelphia, PA)
Jorell Williams, baritone (Brentwood, NY)
For the finals, the twelve finalists will perform their entire programs for the judges on April 16 from 11 am to 3 pm at the Eastman School of Music. At 8 pm, the competition will culminate with an evening concert featuring all of the finalists, followed by the announcement of the winners. Both the daytime finals and evening concert are free and open to the public, and will take place in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, New York.
The
Kurt Weill Foundation will award special prizes at the finals in addition to the top prizes, and has already presented Emerging Talent Awards to five impressive young singer-actors who competed in the semi-finals:
Natalie Ballenger, soprano (Santa Cruz, CA); Samantha Helmstetter, soprano (Fairborn, OH);
Nathan Lucrezio, tenor (Union City, NJ); Kevin Russell Rose, tenor (Sarasota, FL); and Cecilia Ticktin, soprano (Roosevelt, NJ).
Additionally, the
Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise was awarded to Amber Opheim, soprano, of Columbia, SC. The award honors singer-actress
Grace Keagy (1921-2009), a great supporter and past judge for the competition who played Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera on several occasions and the Widow Begbick in the
Yale Repertory Theatre's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
ABOUT THE
Lotte Lenya COMPETITION
The
Lotte Lenya Competition, an annual international theater singing competition held by the
Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, honors the legacy of legendary singer/actress
Lotte Lenya (1898-1981), who was one of the foremost interpreters of the music of her husband,
Kurt Weill (1900-1950). The competition recognizes talented young singer-actors aged 19-30 who are dramatically and musically convincing in contrasting modes of theater music by
Kurt Weill and other composers, and emphasizes wide-ranging repertoire and the acting of songs within a dramatic context. (http://www.kwf.org/kwf/llcs-about )
ABOUT THE
Kurt Weill FOUNDATION
The
Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. (http://www.kwf.org) is dedicated to promoting understanding of the life and works of composer
Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and preserving the legacies of Weill and his wife, actress-singer
Lotte Lenya (1898-1981). The Foundation administers the Weill-Lenya Research Center, a Grant Program, the
Kurt Weill Book Prize and the
Lotte Lenya Competition, and publishes the
Kurt Weill Edition and the
Kurt Weill Newsletter.
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