Above: Judge Evans Mirageas, soprano Murrella Parton, mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown, mezzo-soprano Siena Licht Miller, judges Julia Faulkner and Katherine Olsen
It can be said without argument that everyone in the room at Saturday’s Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the Middle/East Tennessee District was hopeful. For the audience in attendance, there was the hope of possibly hearing an opera star of tomorrow at the beginning of their career. For the 15 singers auditioning this year, though, that hope went quite a bit deeper and was much more personal. All talented musicians by any estimation, each was seeking the boost to a career that winning in the Met’s multi-stage audition process can mean.
This year’s MONC competition for the Middle/East Tennessee District was held at the Clayton Performing Arts Center at Pellissippi State Community College. Judges Julia Faulkner, Evans Mirageas, and Katherine Olsen chose three winners who will progress to the Southeast Region competition on Sunday, March 3rd. Those singers were mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown from Houston, TX, mezzo-soprano Siena Licht Miller from Portland, OR, and soprano Murrella Parton from Louisville, KY. In addition to competing in the regional auditions, each of the winners will receive a $1200 award.
The judges also offered Encouragement Awards to three singers: mezzo-soprano Myka Murphy of Roswell, GA, soprano Christina Nicastro of Indianapolis, IN, and soprano Alicia Russell of Asheville, NC.
The Southeast Region auditions will be held on Sunday, March 3, at Spivey Hall of Clayton State University in Morrow, GA.
From the 12 regions in the U.S.A and Canada, of which the Southeast Region is one, twenty-five or so regional winners travel to New York in March for a period of musical preparation from the Met Opera staff. Eventually, 8 to 10 of those singers are chosen as semi-finalists and compete in a Grand Finals Concert (Sunday, March 31) from which 5 singers are chosen as Grand Final winners.
Judges and singers look on as outgoing District co-chairman Phyllis Driver announces the winners. Photo: Michael Kull Photography
