And the Alltech Vocal Contest Winners Are ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 30, 2010) − The nation’s top young opera singers vied for highly coveted prizes at the 2010 Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition held earlier this month at the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts. Nine winners from the popular competition may soon lend their voices to UK Opera Theatre.

The event, which awards a number of opera scholarships and prizes, included seven major prize categories that were awarded to graduate and undergraduate students by Alltech; Bryant’s Rent-All; Kentucky Opera the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria; and UK. The competition saw 22 finalists, selected from a pool of more than 300 applicants, vie for the coveted awards. Winners were selected by a panel of five judges not affiliated with UK or Alltech and were announced at the competition’s conclusion.

Graduate students vied for two top awards, the Alltech Graduate prizes, that include full UK tuition/graduate assistantships with the first place winner earning an additional $10,000 cash award and the second place winner receiving an additional $7,500 cash award. The first place graduate winner is Michael Preacely, a baritone from Mount Laurel, N.J., and the second place graduate winner is Mark Elliot Golson II, a bass-baritone who graduated from the UK School of Music and will now pursue his doctorate. Additionally the Kentucky Opera prize, which guarantees its winning vocalist a future Main Stage role with the Kentucky Opera, was also awarded to Preacely.

The undergraduates vied for two top awards presented by Alltech and Bryant's Rent-All. These awards included full UK undergraduate scholarships for tuition with first place receiving an additional $5,000 cash award and second place receiving an additional $2,500 cash award. The undergraduate first place winner is baritone Jacob Waid, a senior at Paducah Tilghman High School from Paducah, Ky., and the second place winner is tenor Jermaine Brown, a senior at duPont Manual High School/Youth Performing Arts School from Louisville, Ky.

Several other cash prizes and scholarships were presented by businesses and organizations, including scholarships to the AIMS Institute in Graz, Austria. Graduate winners of the AIMS awards, $2,200 prizes toward tuition at the AIMS Institute, went to Preacely and Golson. The undergraduate winners of the AIMS awards are Waid and Brown, receiving cash prizes of $1,750 toward tuition at AIMS Institute.

Other special awards presented as part of the competition went to:

- tenor Francisco Bedoy, a student at the University of Guadalajara from Ayutla, Jalisco, Mexico, awarded the Bio-Cat Inc. "Outstanding Transfer Student" award, a cash prize of $1,000 plus full tuition to UK;

- soprano Gabrielle Barker, a student at Lafayette High School/School for the Creative and Performing Arts from Lexington, awarded the Mr. William L. Rouse III "Barbara Rouse Kentucky Prize" (for a student born or educated in Kentucky), a cash prize of $5,000;

- soprano Juliana Moura, a student at the University of Louisville from Rio de Janiero, Brazil, awarded the Stoll, Keenon, Ogden PLLC "Gail Robinson Musicianship Award," a cash stipend of $1,500;

- mezzo-soprano Dawn Elizabeth Coon, a graduate of UK from Versailles, Ky., awarded the Dippin’ Dots “Audience Favorite” award, a cash prize of $500; and

- baritone Seongcho Choi, a student at Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, Ky., awarded the Barlow Truckline "Encouragement Award," a cash prize of $500.

Alltech is responsible for spearheading the launch of the competition in 2006 and their continued assistance helps UK Opera Theatre attract new talent each year.

"Thanks to the generous support from Alltech and the strong backing of UK, the Alltech Opera Competition continues placing UK Opera Theatre and UK School of Music in the top-tier for recruiting the best young vocalists in the country," said Everett McCorvey, producer and director of UK Opera Theatre.Alltech is a global animal health company providing natural, nutritional solutions to the feed and food industries. Founded in 1980 by Pearse Lyons, the company is now involved in 85 countries. Alltech is headquartered in Nicholasville, Ky., with a strong regional presence in North America, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

For questions regarding the Alltech Vocal Scholarship, contact UK Opera Theatre at (859) 257-9331, or visit their Web site at www.uky.edu/finearts/music/opera.