George And Nora London Foundation For Singers Announces Its 2024-25 Season
The London Foundation marks the 30th anniversary of its recital series with its first commissioned work.
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 25, 2024
The 2024-25 season of the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers will present the 53rd edition of the foundation’s prestigious annual competition for young American and Canadian opera singers, and a recital by rising young mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, a 2022 George London Award winner, at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum.
To mark the 30th anniversary of its recital series, which began in 1995 with 1988 George London Award winner Renée Fleming, the London Foundation will present its first commissioned work, which Megan Moore will premiere on her program.
The George and Nora London Foundation and the George London Award are named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the great opera singers of 20th century, and his wife, Nora, who ran the foundation for more than three decades.
The George and Nora London Foundation Competition Final Round is a public event that will take place on Friday, February 21, 2025, at which approximately a dozen singers compete for five George London Awards of $12,000 each. Those finalists who do not receive George London Awards receive Encouragement Awards of $2,000. As The New York Times has noted, “this prestigious competition … can rightfully claim to act as a springboard for major careers in opera.” The judges are Harolyn Blackwell, John Hauser, James Morris, Dimitri Pittas, and Susan Quittmeyer, and Lachlan Glen is the event’s pianist.
Mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, a 2022 George London Award winner, performs in recital on Sunday, April 6, 2025, with Francesco Barfoed, piano – a program of music by Debussy, Mahler, Rossini, and Strauss, and the world premiere of a London Foundation commission to mark the 30th anniversary of the foundation’s recital series. The Observer has praised Megan’s “genuinely beautiful voice,” saying, "Megan Moore as Dorabella [in Così fan tutte] poured out rich, buttery mezzo tone,” and when she made her Seattle Opera debut in May, in The Barber of Seville, the Seattle Times said, “Megan Moore as Rosina delivers teenage sass with her vocal fireworks.”
George London and the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers
George London (1920-1985) was one of the greatest opera stars of the 20th century, who blazed a trail for American singers on the international stage and created some of the most indelible interpretations of prominent bass-baritone roles. In his later years, he devoted much of his time and energy to the support and nurturing of young singers, in partnership with his wife, Nora (1924-2022). Since 1971, the foundation’s annual competition has given more than 300 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 Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Ryan Speedo Green, Catherine Malfitano, James Morris, Eric Owens, Matthew Polenzani, Sondra Radvanovsky, Neil Shicoff, Dawn Upshaw, and Willard White.
In addition to the annual competition, the George and Nora London Foundation also presents a recital series to give grantees exposure and experience, and, in many cases, a New York recital debut. The foundation also awards scholarships to promising high school students attending the pre-college program of The Juilliard School, a program now in its 12th year.
Megan Moore
Lyric coloratura mezzo-soprano Megan Moore is quickly garnering attention as an artist of versatility and depth in the repertoire of Rossini, Handel, and Mozart. During the 2023-24 season, the Cincinnati native made her Seattle Opera debut singing Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia led by Valentina Peleggi; reprised her portrayal of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, with Yves Abel on the podium, in a return to San Diego Opera; and returned to Opera Theater of Saint Louis debuting the role of Sesto in Handel's Julius Caesar led by Daniela Candillari and Elkhanah Pulitzer. Additional highlights include joining the Santa Fe Opera for an evening at the Guggenheim Museum for "Works & Process" presenting excerpts from Gregory Spears’s The Righteous, and touring with Les Musiciens du Louvre in France and Spain in performances of Die Fledermaus singing the role of Ida and covering the role of Orlofsky with conductor Marc Minkowski.
Recent awards include Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, Zenith Opera Competition, National Society of Arts & Letters Voice Award, and the Copenhagen Lied Duo Competition (with Francesco Barfoed). She has also taken top honors from the Naumburg Foundation International Vocal Competition in Concert Repertoire, the Gerda Lissner Lieder & Song Competition, and the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition.
Ms. Moore is co-founder of Lynx Project, which amplifies diverse voices through new song commissions, inclusive concerts, and educational programming. Since its founding five years ago, Lynx Project has commissioned over four hours of new music through its Amplify Series, which sets texts by youth with non-verbal autism. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Ms. Moore received her training at Miami University, Eastman School of Music, Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, Santa Fe Opera and The Juilliard School. www.meganmooremezzo.com
George and Nora London Foundation for Singers 2024-25 Season
Friday, February 21, 2025, at 4:00 pm
The Morgan Library & Museum
53rd ANNUAL GEORGE AND NORA LONDON FOUNDATION COMPETITION
Final Round and Awards Announcement
Tickets: $55
Sunday, April 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm
The Morgan Library & Museum
George and Nora London Foundation Recital
MEGAN MOORE, mezzo-soprano
Francesco Barfoed, piano
Works by Debussy, Mahler, Rossini, and Strauss, and the world premiere of a London Foundation commission to mark the 30th anniversary of the foundation’s recital series
Tickets: $55
Tickets and information: info@georgeandnoralondon.org
George and Nora London Foundation for Singers
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