Two UK Vocalists Advance to Semifinals of Metropolitan Opera Auditions
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 24, 2015) — The Mid-South Region Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions were held Saturday, Feb. 21, on University of Kentucky’s campus. Singers from Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, including three from UK, competed to advance to the semifinals to be held on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera scheduled for March 15 in New York City. UK student Matthew Turner took first place at the regional in Lexington and will advance to the semifinals at the Met. Joining Turner in New York, will be another semifinalist from UK, Reginald Smith Jr., from the Southeastern Region Finals.
UK bass Matthew Turner appeared in the tile role of the fall 2014 UK Opera Theatre (UKOT) production “Sweeney Todd,” and will appear in the upcoming UKOT March production of “The Tales of Hoffmann.” A student of Everett McCorvey, director of UKOT and the Lexington Opera Society Endowed Chair in Opera Studies, and Dennis Bender, associate professor of voice, Turner received a cash prize of $4,200 from OperaLex, the host of the auditions, and an additional $800 from the Metropolitan Opera for the Mrs. Edgar Tobin First Place Award. A Lexington resident, he holds bachelor's degrees in accounting and vocal performance from UK.
Turner sang "Il lacerate spirito" from Giuseppe Verdi’s "Simon Boccanegra," "In diesen heil'gen Hallen" from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s "Die Zauberflöte" and "Arise, ye subterranean winds" from Thomas Adès’ "The Tempest."
Smith, a baritone, advanced to the semifinals out of the Southeastern Region held in Atlanta, Georgia. A 2013 choral music education and vocal performance graduate of UK, Smith came to UKOT as an Alltech Vocal Scholar. Like Turner, he also studied under McCorvey at UK School of Music. Currently, Smith is in the young artist program at Houston Grand Opera.
The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions program provides a venue for young opera singers from all over the U.S. to be heard by a representative of the Met. Applicants prepare a minimum of five operatic arias in their original language; selections must demonstrate contrasting style as well as languages. Upon completing the audition, candidates are given the opportunity to meet with the judges personally to discuss matters of evaluation and advice.
The Met holds the auditions to discover new talent and to search for possible participants in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. The Lindemann program, designed to nurture the most talented young artists through training and performance opportunities, provides financial aid together with supervised artistic direction to the young artists.
The highly acclaimed UK Opera Theatre program is part of the UK School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts. For more information on the program, visit online at http://finearts.uky.edu/music/ukot.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu