Competition History-Where are they now?

Previous Guild Competition First Prize Winners – Where are they now?

2012 Mezzo-soprano Renée Rapier made her professional debut in 2011 as Stephano in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette with the LA Opera, where she was a member of the Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program. She recently returned to Los Angeles to perform the title role in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia under the baton of James Conlon. As an Adler Fellow, she made her San Francisco Opera debut in the fall of 2012 as Giovanna in Rigoletto. She will return this fall to the SFO stage as Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff. Ms. Rapier has also frequently performed with the Boston-based early music ensemble La Donna Musicale, with concerts at both the Connecticut and Boston Early Music Festivals and appeared on La Donna Musicale’s CD “Anna Bon: La Virtuosa di Venezia”.  She is also the recipient of the Chautauqua Studio Artist Award, a winner in the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, a national finalist of the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Foundation and a 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions national semifinalist.  Renée Rapier at LA Opera

2011 Soprano Anush Avetisyan, receiving her BA this June at UCLA as a student of Vladimir Chernov, sang the role of Euridice in Opera UCLA’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and in May sang the title role of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. In June of 2011, in UCLA’s Opera Gala, she sang the role of Amelia in excerpts from Simon Boccanegra and the role of Leonora in an excerpt from La forza del destino. Also in 2011 she created the role of Alice B. Toklas in the world premiere of a new chamber version of Jonathan Sheffer’s Blood on the Dining Room Floor with text by Gertrude Stein and is being featured in a professional recording released with Mr. Sheffer conducting.  In the 2012 season, she was a prize winner in the Loren L. Zachary Society Competition and also won First Place in the Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition being featured singing the national anthem at UC Davis’s 2012 Convocation. She will be a Wolf Trap Studio Artist this year and performs regularly for Guild events including Opera in the Park this past April 7th.  Anush Avetisyan at UCLA Opera

2010 Soprano Jacquelynne Fontaine co-hosted and sang in the 2011 Opera in the Park in Palm Springs and was a prize winner in the 2010 Zachary Competition in Los Angeles.  She recently completed an engagement with Rogue Opera and performed in the Guild’s 2011 Student Outreach program.  Last spring she sang in A Room With A View at the Globe in San Diego and then in The King And I at the Lebanon Opera House in New Hampshire.  A Little Night Music followed at the Indianapolis Repertory Theater and La Traviata at the Pantages Theater in Tacoma, Washington.  She will appear in The Sound of Music this summer at the Northshore Playhouse in Beverly, Maine.  Jacquelynne Fontaine and Jesus Leon at Opera in the Park 2011

2009 Soprano Tracy Cox, a student of Vladimir Chernov, has appeared in over 11 UCLA opera productions.  She was named the winner of the 2012 Marilyn Horne Song Competition, which took place July 21 at the Music Academy of the West.  The Music Academy will co-present a song recital featuring Tracy at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica this April 21.   She has performed lead roles as a featured soloist at LA Opera, the Colburn School, Royce Hall, the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts and the Fox Theater, under the batons of such maestros as Placido Domingo, James Conlon and Stephen Lord.  She participated in the Guild’s 2011 student Outreach and is now a second year resident performer with LA Opera.  Tracy won 1st Prize at the Western Regional District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in November and then went on to win the 2012 Marilyn Horne Song Competition.  She appeared in The Rape of Lucretia at the Opera at the Colburn in Los Angeles and was featured in a recital at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica Sunday, April 21st.   She is scheduled to sing in Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue as part of the Cincinnati May Festival this month and then will appear in three productions at Wolf Trap: Il Viaggio a Reims in June, “Aria Jukebox” in July and as Alice Ford in Falstaff in August. Tracy Cox

2008 Baritone Joseph Kyung Teak Lim resides in Chicago and is a member of the Chicago Lyric Opera’s young artists. He was one of the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions Finalists in March, 2011. During his tenure with the USC Thornton Opera program, he appeared in Don Giovanni and Das Liebesverbot. He was named USC Thornton’s Marilyn Horne Scholar and was the baritone soloist in Maher’s Symphony No. 8, Mozart’s Missa Brevis in C Major, Mass No.15 in C Major “Coronation” and Handel’s Messiah.  Joseph Kyung Teak Lim

2007 In addition to winning numerous awards and scholarships, soprano Amy Yekel has performed with the Canton Civic Opera and at the Spoleto Festival in Italy.  Amy Yekel

2006 Bass Apollo Wong has sung the roles of Superintendent Budd in Britten’s  Albert Herring, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ariodante in Handel’s Serse, Frère Laurent and Le Duc in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Un Mandarino in Puccini’s Turandot, Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen and Barone Trombonok in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims. He has worked with conductors such as Paolo Olmi, Renato Palumbo, Joseph Rescigno, Francois-Xavier Roth and Long Yu. He is presently enjoying a successful career as a conductor in Hong Kong, is the Music Director Laureate of The Hong Kong Youth Choir and has been Music Director of the Learners Chorus since 2005.  Apollo Wong conducts Brahms

2005 Soprano Amber Wagner is a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals and was featured in the documentary “The Audition.”   2010/11 saw Amber Wagner’s return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago to sing Elsa in Lohengrin conducted by Sir Andrew Davis; she performed the same role for her debut at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.  Symphonic highlights included a return to the Grant Park Music Festival for Verdi’s Requiem and as Sieglinde in Act 1 of Wagner’s Die Walküre in concert with the Colorado Symphony conducted by Christian Arming.  Debuts for the 2011/12 season included concert performances of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia under Sir Andrew Davis, at Oper Frankfurt, performing Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre, conducted by Sebastian Weigle as well as a Metropolitan Opera debut as Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco.  Role debuts include Senta in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, conducted by Philippe Auguin at The Savonlinna Opera Festival. She returned last year to Lyric Opera in Chicago to cover the title role in Aida.  Chosen by OPERA NEWS as one of twenty-five artists poised to break out and become a major force in classical music in the coming decade, Amber Wagner returned to the Met as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera conducted by Fabio Luisi and then appeared in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s  “stars of lyric” program featuring excerpts from Cavalleria Rusticana.  Symphonic engagements included Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Aspen Music Festival conducted by Robert Spano, Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Oregon Symphony conducted by Carlos Kalmar, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Verdi’s Requiem with both the Tucson Symphony and the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal.  Amber Wagner

2004 Tenor Kalil Wilson lives in Barcelona. He is a renowned jazz and classical singer who has performed at the Met as well as at Disney Hall and is currently enjoying a successful singing career in Europe.  He continues to appear in various venues in Spain.  Kalil Wilson.

2003 Soprano Angela Meade made her professional operatic debut on the stage of the Met as Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani substituting for an ill colleague in March 2008. She sang the title role in Anna Bolena and Elvira in Ernani (live in HD) for the Met in the 2011/12 season and has had an ambitious schedule this summer with appearances as Norma with the Astoria Music Festival, Operetta concerts with Oper Kiel, Leonora in Il Trovatore with the Peralada Festival in Spain, concerts of arias/duets with both the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Summer Festival and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Elena in I Vespri Siciliani with the Wiener Staatsoper, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with LA Opera and Verdi’s Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia (where she filled in for an ailing colleague on less than 24 hours notice). She recently received rave reviews for an impressive solo debut recital for Washington National Opera at Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and sang the title role in Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda with the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall last December.  Earlier this year Angela sang the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore at the Met and was featured in Norma at Washington National Opera.  She is appearing as Giselda in I Lombardi with the Opera Orchestra of New York this month, in Beethoven’s Ninth with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Cincinnati Opera in June and Helene in Les Vêpres Siciliennes with the Caramoor Music Festival in July.   Angela Meade interview

2002 Baritone David Babinet is an acclaimed cantor in New York City. He has sung with companies in Chicago, Tel Aviv, Portland, San Jose, CA. and in Los Angeles alongside Placido Domingo in the Young Artists Program.  David Babinet

2001 Tenor Rodell Rosel was a 2005 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals and made his Chicago Lyric Opera debut that same year. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2009 in Der Rosenkavalier and Les contes d’Hoffmann.  Along with his many roles with Chicago Lyric, he has also appeared at opera companies in Houston, Wolf Trap and Pittsburg, Tulsa and Cleveland. In the summer of 2009 he originated the role of Ong Chi Seng in the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s The Letter at Santa Fe Opera.  He sang with LA Opera in Madama Butterfly last December  and in March will appear in the title role of Britten’s Albert Herring at Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He  performed in the Guild’s Opera in the Park this past April 7th and in May will be singing the role of Spoletta in Tosca at LA Opera.  He returns to LA Opera next season as Bardolph in Falstaff and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte. Rodell Rosel

2000 Baritone Gregorio Gonzalez has sung with Theatre an den Wien in Vienna, Nederlands Opera, Opera de Panama, Opera de Tijuana, Opera de Guanajuato, Connecticut Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and San Diego Comic Opera. He began a 3 season residency with LA Opera in 2002 and in 2010 appeared in the world premiere of Il Postino. He recently sang with the Dana Point Symphony, in Il Segreto di Susanna at UCLA and in David Conte’s America Tropical at the Plaza de la Cultura in Los Angeles. Gregorio Gonzalez

1999 Filipino Baritone Andrew Fernando was the First Prize winner of the prestigious 2003 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition and an alumnus of the San Francisco Opera Merola Program. He was also a prize winner in the Met National Auditions in the Los Angeles district and in the Pacific region, the Grand Prize winner in the Pasadena Opera Guild Vocal competition in 2004, a recipient of the Opera Buffs scholarship funds and a grand finalist in the Licia Albanese Puccini International Vocal Competition held in New York in 2003.  In 2008 Mr. Fernando  performed the title role in Rigoletto in Modesto and  reprised the role  with Opera San José.   The 2007-2008 season also included participation in the New York City Opera’s productions of Cendrillon and Tosca as well as Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

1998 Tenor Bruce Sledge recently sang with the Met in two Mozart roles: Tamino in The Magic Flute and Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte.  Additionally, Mr. Sledge made his debut with the Minnesota Opera in a new role, Leicester in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, followed by Tamino with the Manitoba Opera and Almaviva in Hamburg and in Grand Rapids before making his debut in Avenches, Switzerland, as the Duke in Rigoletto.  In concert he was heard in Mozart’s Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony and in Schubert’s Mass No. 6 with the San Diego Symphony.  He sang last summer at Santa Fe Opera and is scheduled to sing in Verdi’s Requiem in Charleston and in Maria Stuarda at the Welsh National Opera this summer and then in Rigoletto with the Boston Lyric next March, 2014. Bruce Sledge
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1997 Soprano Erin Wood came to public attention at the Lyric Opera of Chicago when she replaced Deborah Voigt on short notice as Sieglinde in Die Walküre, singing with great success, while still a member of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.   Other roles she performed with the company include Lisa in The Queen of Spades, Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gutrune and the Third Norn in Gótterdämmerung, Ortlinde in Die Walküre, the Lady-in-Waiting in Verdi’s Macbeth, Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier, plus roles in Street Scene and Susannah. She has appeared onstage at the San Francisco Opera and Opera Colorado as Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera. She was engaged by San Francisco Opera for La Forza del Destino (as Leonora), and Cavalleria Rusticana (as Santuzza).  Elsewhere Ms. Wood performed Lisa in The Queen of Spades for Opera Grand Rapids, Lady Billows in Albert Herring for the Music Academy of the West, Mavis in The Fantastic Mr. Fox for LA Opera and productions of The Flying Dutchman and The Magic Flute for Opera Pacific.  Erin Wood
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1996 World-renowned tenor Charles Castronovo was born in New York City. Since the start of his professional career, he has sung with many of the world’s important opera companies and symphonic organizations.  His first professional engagements were with LA Opera (as a resident artist) where he gained experience performing over one hundred performances of various supporting roles.  Upon leaving Los Angeles, he was accepted into the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, where he made his debut singing the role of Beppe in I Pagliacci with Placido Domingo on the opening night of the 1999-2000 season.  Mr. Castronovo later recorded the same role with Decca on the 2000 release of I Pagliacci with Jose Cura, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.  From there he went on to make a series of important role debuts as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and Ernesto (Don Pasquale) with Boston Lyric Opera  and Fenton (Falstaff) with  Pittsburgh Opera.  European engagements soon followed with continuing successes in all the major opera houses.  He sang the role of Ernesto in Don Pasquale last year at San Diego Opera and appeared as Nero in L’incoroazione de Poppea at Teatro Real in Madrid last summer.  He recently appeared in Lucrezia Borgia at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and will continue in the role of Gennaro at La Monnaie in Brussels in this spring.  In April he sang the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at Royal Opera, Covent Garden.  He has additional performances scheduled this year including principal roles in Don Giovanni, La Rondine and La Traviata. Charles Castronovo

1995 Soprano Robin Follman has performed with the Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, New York City Opera, Washington Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Pacific, Florentine Opera, Singapore Lyric Opera, Lyric Opera of Malaysia and Hawaii Opera.  Her impressive list of appearances includes signing the title role in Turandot last spring at Mobile Opera and Nedda in I Pagliacci for Cleveland Opera.  She was recently named Artistic Director of the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, CA.  Robin Follman

1993 Soprano Jessica Siena has performed with the Stockton Opera, the New York City Opera touring company, the Los Angeles Music Theatre Company, on the concert stage with the Stockton Symphony, the New Pacific Trio and Livermore Valley Opera.  She currently resides in Stockton, CA.  Jessica Siena

1990 Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who currently resides in Toronto,  has performed in every major opera house in the world including Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera and the Met.  In 2010 she opened the Canadian Opera Company’s season in the title role of Aida.  She has had success in recent years as Leonora, notably in David McVicar’s production of Il Trovatore at the Met.  Placido Domingo has been a noted champion of her career.  This past October she hosted the  live HD broadcast of Otello. She just sang  in Un Ballo in Maschera at the Met and will again appear in Ballo at Teatro alla Scala.  She hosted the Met broadcast of Francesca da Rimini this spring and is currently singing the title role in LA Opera’s Tosca (through June 8.)  She will appear in Verdi’s Requiem this July at Bayerische Staatsoper, in Norma this August at the Festival de Peralada and again in Norma at the Met this fall.  Sondra Radvanovsky

1989 Mezzo Anita Krause has performed with many of North America’s leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Baltimore Symphony and the Toronto Symphony. Ms. Krause has also appeared with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Grant Park Symphony, and Les Violons du Roy, as well as with the orchestras of Vancouver, Calgary, Quebec, Edmonton, Kitchener-Waterloo and the Canadian Opera Company.  Last summer Ms. Krause debuted at the Oregon Bach Festival singing works of Tippett and Debussy. This year she will be heard in Bach’s Mass in B Minor for the Grand Philharmonic Choir of Kitchener Waterloo, Mahler’s Das Lied Von Der Erde for Orchestra London, Messiah for Orchestre symphonique de Trois Rivieres, Verdi’s Requiem for Chorus Niagara and special presentations by the Aldeburgh Connection and the Talisker Players.  Anita Krause

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PLEASE HELP ME KEEP THIS PAGE CURRENT.  IF YOU HAVE  UPDATED  INFORMATION ON ANY OF THESE ARTISTS KINDLY NOTIFY ME AT:   b.johansen@palmspringsoperaguild.org.