AVA Hosts Evening Of Singing And Vocal Fireworks At Bel Canto Competition

The Academy of Vocal Arts' annual favorite vocal competition returns to the Kimmel Center this fall. The Giargiari Bel Canto Competition will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 7:30 PM at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts' Perelman Theater. AVA's award-winning Resident Artists each sing an aria in competition for prizes, including one voted on by the audience. An evening of vocal fireworks, lavish gowns, and competition awaits!

"The artists that sing here at AVA are all so unique. With Giargiari, the Resident Artists have choices of repertoire, which are on a competitive level, professionally as well as within a school," said Danielle Orlando, the music director and pianist for Giargiari. "My role is to find out what they're bringing to the table."

The Giargiari Bel Canto Competition has seen such international opera stars as Angela Meade, Stephen Costello, Michael Fabiano and Ailyn Pérez win prizes over its 40-year history.

The performers, as well as the repertoire and judges, will be announced as the competition draws closer - stay tuned! Music from last year's competition included arias from Massenet's Le Cid, Wagner's Die Walküre, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, and much more.

AVA is also proud to be celebrating its 85th anniversary this season as the world's only tuition-free institution in the world solely dedicated to the study of voice.

The competition's music director and pianist, AVA Master Vocal Coach Danielle Orlando, is an accompanist to many international opera singers, as well as serving as a distinguished vocal coach and artistic consultant to several prestigious organizations throughout the musical world. Ms. Orlando has been involved with the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition for twenty years.

"I think Giargiari is a great introduction into opera," said Ms. Orlando. "If this type of 'sports nature' event brings people into the opera world, then we're doing our job. You don't have to be an opera scholar to enjoy it."

Ms. Orlando has been seen on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Live by Request on A&E and the Rosie O'Donnell Show accompanying celebrities Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli and Michael Bolton. She also appears in the Metropolitan Opera documentary The Audition.

Ms. Orlando collaborated with Luciano Pavarotti as accompanist, judge and artistic coordinator for the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competitions and spent nine seasons in Spoleto, Italy working with Gian Carlo Menotti for the Festival Dei Due Mondi. She was Artistic Administrator and Head of Music Staff for Opera Company of Philadelphia for many years and has served on the music staffs of numerous opera companies, festivals, and young artist programs around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Dresden Semperoper and Savonlinna Opera Festival. She is a guest coach for WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, Palm Beach Opera's Young Artist Program and a guest judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has had recent collaborations with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Recent residencies include Curtis Summerfest, University of Tennessee, Knoxville and University of Peking Academy of Opera in Beijing and Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Information for the first and second prizes may be found below:

THE JAMES PARKINSON OPERA FOUNDATION FIRST PRIZE

The James Parkinson Opera Foundation's generous gift to the Academy of Vocal Arts' endowment fund in 2012 has continued to provide support for the future opera stars of tomorrow. The Foundation was named after Jim Parkinson, a Delaware County business man, civic leader and former AVA Board Member. An opera aficionado, Jim enriched the community through his devotion to the Suburban and Pennsylvanian Opera Companies, presenting full opera productions annually for over a decade and giving annual awards to operatic vocalists. After his passing, the James Parkinson Opera Foundation continued awarding young artists in annual competitions. Over 150 vocal artists have artists have received Parkinson Awards, including AVA alumni such as Joyce DiDonato, Richard Troxell, Angela Meade, Stephen Costello, Michael Fabiano and Ailyn Pérez, to name but a few. When the foundation dissolved, assets were donated to AVA, having Mr. Parkinson remembered continually through a perpetual gift to the Academy. The Parkinson Foundation underwrites the First Prize award at the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition.

THE CECILE K. DALTON SECOND PLACE PRIZE

Education and opera were two of the main pillars in the life of Dr. Cecile K. Dalton. She was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society at Northwestern University and subsequently earned a PhD in chemistry from UCLA in the 1960s, a time when there were few women scientists. She then went on to teach organic chemistry for many years to students at Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr College and Temple University. Although Dr. Dalton was adept at science, she was also a lover of art, literature, and especially opera. Dr. Dalton generously donated her time and talents to strengthen opera in the Philadelphia region by volunteering at AVA and serving on the board of the Philadelphia Opera Guild. In her later years, she wintered in Florida on Longboat Key and enjoyed attending the nearby Sarasota Opera productions. Her family donates this prize to honor her memory and to support AVA in its mission of educating the next generation of soloists who will ensure that opera continues to thrive.

AVA expresses its gratitude to Walter and Alice Strine, Esqs for sponsoring this competition again.

Single tickets to Giargari may be purchased on the Kimmel Center's website or by calling their Box Office at 215-893-1999. Tickets and subscriptions for the entire AVA opera season are available now by calling 215-735-1685 or by visiting www.avaopera.org

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