Bevy of baritones in Met Auditions in New York

Pnini Grubner and the bass & baritones from the Met Opera Eastern Regional

If you want to hear lots of great low male voices, you'll want to attend the upcoming Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Eastern Region on Tuesday, November 19th and Wednesday, November 20th. The group includes at least three singers who have appeared on this site, Jorell Williams, Vasil Garvanliev and Michael Adams. The latter two have also appeared in our Barihunks Charity Calendar.

The competition will be at Merkin Hall from 10 AM - 3.30 PM on Tuesday and from 10 AM - 6 PM on Wednesday. The final concert will be held on January 16th at Merkin Hall. Audience members are welcome to come and go as they please. A $20 donation is suggested for admission. All the money raised is used to provide cash prizes to our winners which they can use to further their careers. You can sign up ONLINE for any or all of the three concerts.

Judges will be Gayletha Nichols, Roger Malouf and Bill Powers.

One of the participants who is new to us is Israeli bass-barihunk Pnini Grubner. The 28-year-old will be performing "Vecchia zimarra senti" from Puccini's La bohème. "Quand la flamme de l'amour " from Bizet's La Jolie Fille De Perth, "Épouse quelque brave fille" from Massenet's Manon, Aleko’s Aria ("Ves tabor spit) by Rachmaninov and "Non più andrai" from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.

23-year-old Michael Adams, who was a hit in our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar is considered by many to be one of the favorites in this competition. The Texas native will be performing  "Avant De Quitter Ces Lieux" from Gounod's Faust, excerpts from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, "Come Paride vezzoso" from Donizetti's L’elisir D’amore, Onegin's Arioso ("Uzhel Ta Samaja Tatiana") from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and "Rivolgete a Lui lo Sguardo" from Mozart's Così fan tutte.

Jorell Williams at the 2011 Lotte Lenya Competition:

Winners of the District auditions advance to their Region Finals where they compete to win a trip to New York to participate in the National Semi-Finals, a competition held on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. Approximately ten of the Semi-Finalists are selected as National Finalists and compete the following Sunday in a public concert, the Grand Finals Concert, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The jury awards approximately five Grand Winner awards of $15,000 each. The concert is broadcast nationwide on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Network. The remaining National Finalists receive $5,000 each, and those singers who were National Semi-Finalists but did not advance to the National Finals will be given $1,500 to further their studies.

Many of the world’s foremost singers, among them Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick have received awards from the National Council.

Vasil Garvanliev

 You can enjoy barihunk Vasil Garvanliev all year in our new 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Remember that all proceeds go to young artists. We've already given out our first grant and are eager to raise money to help more of the singers who will keep opera alive and thriving for the next generation. Click HERE to order you calendar today.