Met Opera Competition Winners in Aspen, Santa Fe and Central City!

Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream in Aspen, courtesy Photo Diego Redel

Over the summer, talented young singers on their way to major opera careers took on roles at the Aspen Music Festival, Central City Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera. Some of them honed their craft under the guidance of Renee Fleming (herself a Met competition winner) and conductor Patrick Summers as part of the Aspen Music Festival and School’s opera program. Others were members of the apprentice programs at Central City and The Santa Fe Opera. Many of them have already or are preparing to compete in the world’s largest opera competition in the world, the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition.

I talked with several singers in Aspen, and almost all of them are planning to compete this fall and winter in one of the 39 districts in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America. Several have already competed here in Colorado. Your support of our local district and region competitions ensures that these stars of tomorrow can take the next step in their careers and have a chance to sing on the Met stage. Over 100 former competition winners are on the current Met roster.

Among this summer’s featured singers who received awards in the Laffont Competition was baritone Jason Edelstein, who won the Florida Distict Encouragement award and sang Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Nights’ Dream in Aspen. Mezzo-soprano Isabelle Kosempa won the Houston District Encouragement Award and sang the Third Lady in the Aspen production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In Santa Fe, mezzo-soprano Meridian Prall, a national winner, sang Filipyevna in Tchaikovksky’s Eugene Onegin and Eduige in Handel’s Rodelinda. National winner bass William Guanbo Su sang Garibaldo in Handel’s Rodelinda, and national semifinalist soprano Sylvia D’Eramo, sang Gerda Wegener in Picker’s Lili Elbe. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who sang Larina in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, was also national winner, as was bass-baritone Le Bu, who sang The Bonze in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Speaker in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In Central City, national winner Luke Sutliff who grew up in Denver sang the Count in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Opera stages all over the world are populated with Laffont Competition winners, and their success in these competitions are made possible by your donations. Thank you!

Please give generously to help advance the careers of these singers and to ensure that opera continues to thrive. As former Metropolitan Opera National Council President Ellie Caulkins once said, “The Met Competition is the future of opera in America!”