Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition Winners Announced
For Immediate Release July 28, 2008
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Soprano Simone Osborne, baritone Edward Parks, and pianist In Sun Suh have been named the winners of this year's Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition, which took place July 26 at the Music Academy of the West. The foundation will present the winners in separate recitals in New York City. Ms. Suh will be presented with one singer at Christ and St. Stephen's Church in New York on October 5. The other singer will be presented in recital next year. The singers' respective performance dates will be announced later.
Receiving Encouragement Awards at this year's competition were vocalists Zachary Altman (baritone), Julie Davis (soprano), Adam Hall (tenor), Adam Lau (bass/baritone), Ana Mihanovic (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Owens (tenor), Joshua Stewart (tenor), and Janette Zilioli (soprano), and pianist Lucas Wong. Biographies appear below.
One of the most popular events of the summer season at the Music Academy, the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition is a showcase for Academy singers and vocal pianists. Foundation Awards, presented in honor of longtime Music Academy vocal accompaniment faculty member Gwendolyn Koldofsky, are given to the Academy singer and vocal pianist who demonstrate excellence in the performance of song repertoire as well as a unique gift for audience communication. It is unusual to have more than one singer named as a winner in a given year. The foundation presents the award winners in recital as part of its "On Wings of Song" series. Encouragement Awards are also presented as deemed appropriate by the jury. Encouragement Award recipients receive $500 cash prizes.
Joining world-renowned concert and opera singer Marilyn Horne as jurors this year were Michael Benchetrit (vice president at Columbia Artists Management); the acclaimed chanteuse Joan Morris; Barbara Hocher (executive director of the Marilyn Horne Foundation); and pianist and opera conductor Kenneth Merrill (a faculty member at Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music).
Previous winners of the competition have included soprano Nadine Sierra and pianist Karen Kyung-Eun Na (2007); Santa Barbara's own Evan Hughes (2006); mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and pianist Tamara Sanikidze (2005); mezzo-soprano Daniela Lehner and pianist Marie-Ève Scarfone (2004); mezzo-soprano Megan Latham and pianist Carol Wong (2003); mezzo-soprano Deborah Domanski and pianist Jerome Tan (2002); baritone Nicolai Janitzky (2001); and soprano Liesel Fedkenheuer (2000).
The Marilyn Horne Foundation was founded in 1993 by Ms. Horne. Its mission is to support, encourage, and preserve the art of the vocal recital through the presentation of vocal recitals and related educational activities across the United States. It has become one of the most influential and esteemed national nonprofits devoted exclusively to song and to gifted young vocal recitalists. The foundation was officially launched on January 16, 1994, with a gala concert at Carnegie Hall celebrating Ms. Horne's 60th birthday.
The Music Academy will present the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom's opera A Wedding as well as performances by conductor Peter Oundjian and the Canadian Brass as part of the Academy's 61st Summer Festival. The Academy is presenting 188 events over the course of its 2008 Summer School and Festival, which began on June 23 and will conclude on August 16. Additional highlights will include a conducting turn by Anne Manson on August 9. Featuring the Academy's exceptionally talented Fellows, together with illustrious guest performers and faculty, the events are presented at the Academy's scenic Miraflores campus and in venues throughout Santa Barbara.
For information, call 969-8787. Information is also available online at www.musicacademy.org.
Founded in 1947, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, as well as guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and fully staged opera. The Music Academy will broadcast live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn Hall beginning in October. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
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Biographies
Simone Osborne, 21, born in Vancouver, is an undergraduate at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She recently performed the lead soprano role of Emma Jung alongside Judith Forst in the world premiere of The Dream Healer with Maestro David Agler, and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with the Vancouver Symphony and Maestro Bramwell Tovey. Ms. Osborne recently won the Czech-Slovak International Voice Competition in Montreal, and was awarded a bursary and a position in the young artist coaching program at Vancouver Opera. Other roles performed in Canada and Europe include Susanna, Marenka, Musetta, Atalanta (Xerxes), and Papagena. This is her first summer at the Music Academy.
Edward Parks, 24 (turns 25 August 2), born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, completed his bachelor's degree at Oberlin Conservatory and his master's degree at Yale University. At Oberlin he sang the roles of Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Belcore in L'elisir d'amore. At the Yale School of Music, Mr. Parks performed the roles of Marcello in La Bohème, Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and Jupiter in Orphée aux Enfers. His awards include first place at the Columbus International Vocal Competition, a distinguished achievement award from the Oberlin faculty, and the Dorothy S. Kish Prize, awarded to an outstanding first-year student of opera at Yale. He attended the Music Academy in 2006.
In Sun Suh, 26, born in Seoul, South Korea, began her piano studies at age 5 and went on to earn her bachelor's degree in solo piano at Korea's Yonsei University. In 2007 she made her Alice Tully Hall debut with soprano Erin Morely as a winner of the Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors Recital. This year she has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Ms. Suh is pursuing a master's degree at Juilliard, where she studies with Jonathan Feldman, Brian Zeger, and Margo Garrett. A recipient of the Carl Friedberg Memorial Scholarship, the C & H Lewine Scholarship, and the William Petschek Piano Scholarship, she attended the Music Academy in 2007.
Zachary Altman, 23, born in Philadelphia, is pursuing a master's degree at Manhattan School of Music, where he studies with Marlena Malas. At MSM he has portrayed Don Polidoro in L'italiana in Londra, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Fortitude the Lion in Griffelkin. In New York he appeared with American Music Productions as the Husband in the world premiere of Seymour Barab's Everyone Has to be Free and sang in the off-Broadway revue New Stages at the York. Mr. Altman has spent the past few summers at the Chautauqua Institution's Music School, where he played Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte and Arnalta in L'incoronazione di Poppea. He has performed in concert with Ricky Ian Gordon, Craig Rutenberg, Warren Jones, Ken Merrill, Mikael Eliasen, and Tom Muraco.
Julie Davis, 27, born in Temple, Texas, graduated in May with a master's degree in opera from the University of Oklahoma. While there, she performed the roles of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, and Dido in Dido and Aeneas. Other roles have included Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore, Amalia Balash in She Loves Me, the Dewfairy in Hänsel and Gretel, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. For the past four years, she has been featured as a soloist in the nationally televised production of Christmas at Baylor. Ms. Davis has soloed in many concert appearances with regional symphonic societies, performing various oratorio works, including Mendelssohn's Elijah and Psalm 115, Beethoven's Choral Fantasia, Faurè's Requiem, and Mozart's Laudate Dominum. Most recently, Ms. Davis was the 2007 first-place winner of the Benton-Schmidt Scholarship at the University of Oklahoma, and won the Naftzger Vocal Auditions in Wichita, Kansas. She attended the Music Academy in 2006.
Adam Hall, 30, born in Stamford, Connecticut, received a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and a master's from the University of Maryland College Park. His recent roles include Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, and Jimmy in Later the Same Evening. Oratorio work includes Messiah, The Creation, and Elijah. His musical theater roles include Jack in Into the Woods, Pharoah in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Herb in Godspell, and Brother Trucker in Working. Mr. Hall also has given recitals and soloed with choral groups in the Washington, D.C., area, including the Cantate Chamber Singers, Choralis, and the Washington Chorus.
Adam Lau, 24, born in San Francisco, received a bachelor's degree from Whitman College, where he performed Pooh-bah in The Mikado and Caldwell B. Cladwell in Urinetown. As a member of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center he performed Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore. In 2006 he performed Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Symphony and Opera Academy of the Pacific (Canada). Last year Mr. Lau won first place in East Bay Opera League Competition, and second place in the Western Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Recently, he performed as the Geographer in San Francisco Opera's May 2008 production of The Little Prince. This is his first summer at the Music Academy of the West.
Ana Mihanovic, 28, born in Spilt, Croatia, maintains an active involvement with the Croatian National Opera Summer Festival as a recitalist and concert soloist. Her operatic roles include Flora (La traviata) with San Antonio Opera, and Ludmila (The Bartered Bride), Meg Page (Merry Wives of Windsor), Venus (Orpheus in the Underworld), Anna Maurrant (Street Scene), and Musetta (La Bohème) with the Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble. Ms. Mihanovic holds degrees in vocal performance and musicology from the University of Utah and is currently completing her doctorate at Manhattan School of Music. She attended the Music Academy in 2005.
Andrew Owens, 24, born in Newtown, Pennsylvania, received his bachelor's degree in vocal performance from Oberlin Conservatory. During his undergraduate studies he performed the roles of Spärlich in Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, the First Commissioner in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Laurie in Little Women. Other performances include Camille in The Merry Widow and a solo appearance with the Cleveland Orchestra. A longtime pupil of the late tenor Enrico Di Giuseppe, Mr. Owens is pursuing a master's degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he has sung the roles of P.T. Barnum in Libby Larsen's chamber opera Barnum's Bird and Paco in La vida breve. Last August he was awarded the top prize in the Mario Lanza Vocal Competition for Tenors in New York City.
Joshua Stewart, 21, born in New Orleans, is a member of the Curtis Opera Theatre, where he recently performed the roles of Almeric in Iolanta, Ruiz Alonso in the Philadelphia premiere of Ainadamar, Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore, and Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro. In January he performed the roles of Trin and Joe in La fanciulla del West at the St. Barth's Music Festival and appeared in a masterclass at Carnegie Hall offered by the Marilyn Horne Foundation. Mr. Stewart is pursuing a bachelor's degree at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he holds the Joseph Cairns Jr. and Ernestine Bacon Memorial Fellowship. His other roles include the Lyric Tenor in Postcard from Morocco, Prunier in La Rondine, Erice in L'Ormindo, the Mayor in Albert Herring, the First Sailor in Dido and Aeneas, the Tenor in Trouble in Tahiti, and Monostatos and First Armored Guard in Die Zauberflöte. He attended the Music Academy in 2007.
Janette Zilioli, 29, born in Winter Park, Florida, began singing at age 10. A graduate from Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in opera performance, she was a resident artist with Orlando Opera from 2003-05. In the summer of 1999, Ms. Zilioli won the Australian Singing Competition and performed in a winners' concert in Tokyo. In 2001 she was a national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and was the first-place and audience choice winner in Houston Grand Opera's McCollum Competition for Young Singers. Her favorite roles performed include Adina in L'Elisir D'Amore, Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio, soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, Musetta in La Bohème, and most recently Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Orlando Opera. She attended the Music Academy in 2004.
Lucas Wong, 26, born in Hong Kong, has appeared as a collaborative pianist and chamber musician in many festivals and concerts, including a recent performance with choral conductor Simon Carrington at Carnegie Hall. After winning the Début Young Artist Competition 2003, he made notable appearances at CBC Vancouver Studio One (later broadcasted on CBC Radio), the International Holland Music Sessions, Banff Keyboard Festival, Songfest in Malibu, and the Norfolk Chamber and Choral Festival. Last year Mr. Wong received a post-graduate collaborative piano fellowship at Bard Conservatory, under the artistic direction of Dawn Upshaw. He is pursuing a doctoral degree in piano performance at Yale.
