Four low male voices advance to Met Semifinals

Hubert Zapiór and William Guanbo Su

Twenty-one young opera singers who have won regional auditions around the United States will compete in the semifinal round of the country's leading vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, on Sunday, March 24.

The 2019 semifinalists include two baritones, one bass-baritone, one bass, nine sopranos, three mezzo-sopranos and five tenors.

The two baritone semifinalists are Thomas Glass (Rocky Mountain Region: Edina, Minnesota) and Hubert Zapiór (Eastern Region: Brzesko, Poland).  The bass-baritone semifinalist is Nicholas Newton (Western Region: San Diego, California).  The bass is William Guanbo Su (Eastern Region: New York, New York).

The closed semifinal competition, held on the Met stage before a panel of judges, will determine the select group of finalists who will advance to the final round of the competition-the Grand Finals, which is open to the public and will be held on the Met stage on Sunday, March 31.

William Guanbo Su sings Rossini's La calunnia:

The finalists who advance to the Grand Finals will have a week of training with Met musical and dramatic coaches to prepare for the Grand Finals Concert on March 31. Each finalist will sing two arias on the Met stage with conductor Carlo Rizzi leading the Met Orchestra. Bass-barihunk Christian Van Horn, who was a Grand Finals winner in 2003, will perform for the audience while the judges deliberate to decide the Grand Finals winners. Following the performance, the winners will be announced, each of whom will receive a cash prize of $15,000 and career-making exposure. 

Other singers who advanced are Sylvia D'Eramo, Monica Dewey, Meryl Dominguez, Anna Dugan, Alaysha Fox, Mary Hoskins, Meghan Kasanders, Murrella Parton, Elena Villalón, Abigail Dock, Camille Sherman, Michaela Wolz, Piotr Buszewski, Dashuai Chen, Anthony Ciaramitaro, Miles Mykkanen and Joshua Lee Wheeker.

Tickets for the Grand Finals Concert are on sale now and may be purchased at the Met Box Office, by phone at (212) 362-6000, or online.