Fullerton Baritone Wins Opera Auditions

Aram Barsamian, a 30-year-old baritone from Fullerton, won top honors Saturday in the annual Orange County District Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

Barsamian won the $500 William J. Gillespie Scholarship Award, provided by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.

Soprano Shayleen T. Ojeda, 22, of La Verne won the $300 second-place award, donated by Bobbye J. Powers. Soprano Alisha Ann Salazar, 27, of Huntington Beach won the $200 William John Conlin award. The competition was held at Chapman University in Orange.

Barsamian, Ojeda and Salazar will advance to the regional competition, which takes place Nov. 12 at USC. (The preliminary round is closed, but the finals the next day will be open to the public. Tickets are $25. Information: [213] 740-7111.)

Soprano Dorothy Ann Grimley, 23, of Costa Mesa won the $150 Florence R. Schumacher fourth-place award, given in memory of Nunzio Crisci. Tenor Chad Berlinghieri, 26, Newport Beach; soprano Margit Jensen, 27, Anaheim; and baritone Tom O’Toole, 28, Costa Mesa, each won a $100 encouragement award.

Twelve vocalists competed for a chance to win the ultimate prize: $15,000 and a concert appearance at the Met. The national grand finals will be held March 5 in New York. Judging the local competition were Marvellee Cariaga, a noted mezzo-soprano and voice teacher; Lucinda Carver, music director of the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, and Gary Glaze, a former tenor with the New York City Opera and now head of the voice department at USC.