Nine rising opera singers will take the stage at the Metropolitan Opera House for the final phase of the 65th annual National Council Auditions. The 2019 Grand Finals concert will take place March 31. Winners, selected by a panel of judges, will earn cash prizes of $15,000, with remaining finalists receiving $7,500.
At the recital, each finalist will perform two arias, accompanied by the Met Orchestra (conducted by Carlo Rizzi). Anthony Roth Costanzo, set to take the stage next season in Akhnaten, will host the proceedings, which will also feature a performance from Christian Van Horn.
The nine finalists are:
· Piotr Buszewski, 26, tenor (Warsaw, Poland)
· Dashuai Chen, 28, tenor (Shanghai, China)
· Alaysha Fox, 27, soprano (Queens, New York)
· Thomas Glass, 28, baritone (Edina, Minnesota)
· Meghan Kasanders, 27, soprano (Darien, Illinois)
· Miles Mykkanen, 27, tenor (Bessemer, Michigan)
· William Guanbo Su, 24, bass (Beijing, China)
· Elena Villalón, 21, soprano (Austin, Texas)
· Michaela Wolz, 23, mezzo-soprano (Eureka, Missouri)
Past participants of the National Council Auditions include Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Deborah Voigt, Lawrence Brownlee, Eric Owens, Nadine Sierra, Jamie Barton, and Ryan Speedo Green.
