Ao Li and Patrick Guetti big winners at Met Finals

The winners of the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, from left, the tenor Yi Li; the soprano Julie Adams; the bass Patrick Guetti; the soprano Amanda Woodbury; and the bass-baritone Ao Li. And Patrick Guetti again.

Baritones and basses took two of the five top prizes at The Metropolitan Opera finals, as Ao Li and Patrick Guetti were the day's big winners, along with soprano Julie Adams, soprano Amanda Woodbury and tenor Yi Li.

More than 1,500 singers participated in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 40 districts and 13 regions throughout the United States and Canada. 

Each singer performed two arias each with the Met Opera Orchestra conducted by Marco Armiliato. Guetti sang "Il lacerato spirito" from Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and "La colunnia" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Ao Li sang the cavatina from Rachmaninoff's Aleko and Mozart's Catalogue Aria from Don Giovanni.

The panel of seven judges chose five winners, who were announced from the stage by tenor Lawrence Brownlee. While the judges soprano Susanna Phillips, the afternoon’s guest artist,  performed “Dove Sono” from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

The other winners are soprano Amanda Woodbury, soprano Julie Adamsand tenor Yi Li. Each winner receives a $15,000 award.

The other finalists were countertenor Christopher Lowrey, tenor Rexford Tester, and tenor Rafael Moras.

Don't forget to join our campaign to send barihunk Xavier Edgardo to the Opera on the Avalon young artist program. Even a $5 or $20 contribution will go a long way in supporting this talented young artist. Click HERE to give today.  

Met Grand Finals on Sunday; Radio performance Monday

Patrick Guetti

The Metropolitan Opera Grand Finals Concert will take place in New York City on March 30th with the nine finalists. The finalists were chosen from 1,500 singers who auditioned in 40 districts and 13 regions in the United States and Canada.

Finalists include bass-barihunk Patrick Guetti, 27, bass (Middle Atlantic Region: Highland Park, NJ); Julie Adams, 26, soprano (Western Region: Burbank, CA); Nicole Haslett, 26, soprano (Northwest Region: Mt. Laurel, NJ); Ao Li, 26, bass-baritone (Rocky Mountain Region: Dezhou, China, currently living in San Francisco, CA); Yi Li, 30, tenor (Middle Atlantic Region: Jinan, China, currently living in Silver Spring, MD); Christopher Lowrey, 30, countertenor (New England Region: Johnston, RI); Rafael Moras, 27, tenor (Gulf Coast Region: San Antonio, TX); Rexford Tester, 24, tenor (Middle Atlantic Region: Tazewell, VA); Amanda Woodbury, 26, soprano (Western Region: Crestwood, KY).

Each finalist will be competing for an individual cash prize of $15,000 each at the Grand Finals Concert. Even more important than the prize money is the contestants' opportunity to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra on the historic opera house stage before an audience that will include opera company executives, artist managers, music critics, and other opinion-makers of the music world.

You can hear Guetti and the other eight singers this Tuesday, April 1 at 7 PM EST on WQXR. Their event appearance marks their first New York performance following the grand finals concert.

Don't forget to join our campaign to send barihunk Xavier Edgardo to the Opera on the Avalon young artist program. Even a $5 or $20 contribution will go a long way in supporting this talented young artist. Click HERE to give today. 

Four baritones/basses advance to Met Semi-Finals

Patrick Guetti and Scott Russell

One-fifth of the singers advancing from the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions to the Met Semi-Finals will be baritones or basses. They include Patrick Guetti, Scott Russell, Alex DeSocio and Ao Li. A panel of judges will hold closed auditions on March 20 to determine who will advance to the final round of the competition at the Met Grand Finals Concert under the baton of conductor Marco Armiliato on Sunday, March 30 at 3 p.m. At the end of the concert, winners will be announced, each of whom will receive an individual cash prize of $15,000.

Alex DeSocio and Ao Li

On Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m., the winners will perform a concert of varied operatic repertory at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WQXR 105.9, New York City’s all-classical station. They will be joined by a Met star and former National Council winner, soprano Deborah Voigt. The event will be broadcast live on WQXR and there will be a live video webcast on both www.wqxr.org and www.thegreenespace.org.

The regional winners were chosen from nearly 1500 singers who participated in the auditions held in 40 districts and 13 regions throughout the United States and Canada, sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council and administered by National Council members and hundreds of volunteers from across the country.

You can check out our January post to read about the baritones and basses who entered the competition this year.