Laguna Singer Tops Met Field

Katja Nicolai, a 30-year-old mezzo-soprano from Laguna Beach, won top honors Saturday in the annual Orange County District Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

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

Soprano Kristin Peterson, 31, of Huntington Beach won the $300 second-place award, donated by Bobbye J. Powers. Soprano Melina Gerges, 25, of La Mirada won the $200 William John Conlin award.

Soprano Margit Jensen, 28, of Anaheim won the $150 Florence R. Schumacher fourth-place award, given in memory of Nunzio Crisci. The competition was held at Chapman University in Orange.

All four singers will advance to the regional competition Nov. 3 at USC. (Tickets are $25. [213] 740-7111.)

Soprano Linda Alexander, 30, Costa Mesa; tenor Chad David Frisque, 28, Costa Mesa; soprano Nicole Morrissey, 24, Fullerton; mezzo-soprano Emma K. Sabean, 31, Costa Mesa; and soprano Adrienne Stapp, 29, Newport Beach, each won a $100 encouragement award.

Thirteen vocalists competed for a chance to win one of five $15,000 awards at the national grand finals, to be held April 1 in New York. Judging the local competition were Diane Elias, now in her fifth season at the Met; John Forsyte, executive director of the Pacific Symphony; and Gwendolyn Lytel, a distinguished voice faculty member at Pomona College.