Metropolitan Opera Western Regional Holds Auditions This Weekend

The 2004-2005 Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Auditions finals will be held at Bovard Auditorium at USC on Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. The program will showcase some of the most promising young opera singers in the West.

Finalists will compete before a panel of distinguished judges from the world of opera. This year’s judges include Martina Malas, New York City voice teacher; Brad Woolbright, artistic administrator, Santa Fe Opera; and Harry Silverstein, stage director, De Paul Opera Theater.

Winners selected at this competition will receive cash awards and the opportunity to advance to the national semi-finals competition held in New York next spring at the Metropolitan Opera. Ten finalists will be chosen to compete in the Grand Finals Concert at the Metropolitan Opera where a maximum of five singers will be chosen as national grand winners.

The Western Region includes Arizona and southern Nevada and San Bernardino/Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego and Imperial counties.

Past winners of this competition include sopranos Carol Vaness, Deborah Voigt and Sondra Radvanovsky, and baritone Thomas Hampson.

Tickets to the finals are $28 and may be ordered by calling the USC box office at 213-740-4672.