TRIFECTA: André Courville wins his third major vocal competition

Chloe Moore, André Courville and Marie Natale

Bass-barihunk André Courville, won his third First Prize when he took home top honors at the 28th Annual Violetta DuPont Vocal Competition. He previously won the 2015 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition and the 2014 Giargiari Bel Canto Competition. The competition was held at Lenfell Hall in the Mansion at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Courville took home $5,000 as the winner of competition. The $3,000 Second Prize went to soprano Marie Natale and the $1,500 Third Prize to soprano Chloe Moore. The winners were winnowed down from 114 candidates, which resulted in 18 finalists.

Each finalist performed an aria of his or her choice to be judged by a panel of renowned opera figures and jurists based on voice quality, technique, intonation, diction, interpretation, and stage presence. The judges included Gerda Lissner Foundation President Stephen DeMaio, Maestra Eva Quelar, Artist Manager Robert Lombardo, retired soprano Barbara Ann Testa, and arts patron James Thurmond Smithgall.

Last year's winner, tenor Alasdair Kent, performed "Fantaisie aux divins mensonges" from Leo Delibes' Lakme as the judges deliberated.
Courville can next be heard on May 6th as the bass soloist in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with The Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall. The West Coast can hear him on May 22 in concert with the Opera Associates of Los Angeles at the 36th Church of Christ, Scientist in Studio City, California.