The Lotte Lenya Competition will begin taking applications on September 3rd. The competition seems to attract the best barihunk talent, many of whom have walked away with the top prize, including John Brancy, Trevor Martin, Lucas Meachem, Liam Bonner and Jonathan Michie, Doug Carpenter, as well as hunkentenor Noah Stewart. Bass-barihunk Justin Hopkins took away second prize in 2012.
The Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest
that recognizes talented young singer-actors, ages 19 to 32, who are
dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire, and
emphasizes the acting of songs within a dramatic context. It was
founded in 1998 by foundation President Kim H. Kowalke, who is the
Richard L. Turner Professor in Humanities at the University of Rochester
and professor of musicology at the Eastman School.
John Brancy's 2018 winning set:
Singers are required to sing one theatrical selection by Kurt Weill, one song from the pre-1968 “Golden Age” of American musical theater, one song from the American musical theater repertoire of 1968 or later, and one aria from the operatic or operetta repertoire
Applicants will be required to upload an audition video that includes all four of the required repertoire selections. Applications can be found online. The competition will hand out $75,000 in prize money this year, including $20,000 for the Grand Prize.
Barihunks Trevor Martin and Jeremy Weiss both walked away with prizes at the 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition.
Jeremy Weiss won the $3,500 prize that comes with the Carolyn Weber Award, which is given in recognition of outstanding creativity in the design of a diverse program and exceptional sensitivity to text/music relationships.
Trevor Martin walked away with the $10,000 3rd Place Prize. On April 26, Martin will join mezzo-soprano Caitlin Powell and soprano Sandra Lopez for the Opera North Spring Fling performing operatic music inspired by Shakespeare. He then joins the Modern Opera Company on May 4th where he is performing the title role in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
Barihunk John Brancy, winner of the 2018 Competition:
Singers are required to sing one theatrical selection by Kurt Weill, one song from the pre-1968 “Golden Age” of American musical theater, one song from the American musical theater repertoire of 1968 or later, and one aria from the operatic or operetta repertoire
First Prize went to Daniel Berryman and Second Prize was awarded to Andrea Wozniak. The
Marc Blitzstein Award went to Katherine Riddle for “Mr. Right” and Nyla Watson won the Lys Symonette Award for “Beautiful.”
John Brancy performing at the Lotte Lenya Competition (left)
American barihunk John Brancy, along with sopranos Caroline Hewitt and Laura Corina Sanders, took top honors and $15,000 in prize money at this year's Lotte Lenya Competition. This was Brancy's second appearance at the Competition, having originally competed in 2008 when he won the Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Performance of an Individual Number. The competition is open to singers born after April 15, 1985.
Brancy performed “Uzhel ta samaja Tatiana” from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, “This is New” from Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark, “Awaiting You” from Guettel's Myths and Hymns and “Soliloquy” from Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel.
John Brancy performs at the Lotte Lenya Competition:
A number of baritones have won top prizes at the Lotte Lenya Competition, including Bradley Smoak in 2017, Brian Vu in 2016, Ben Edquist in 2014, Douglas Carpenter in 2013 and Justin Hopkins in 2012.
Brancy has previously won 2nd Prize at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London and the Media Prize in the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Moscow. This fall, he returns to Oper Frankfurt for a new production of Olga Neuwirth's Lost Highway directed by Yuval Sharon. This summer, Brancy will perform at the Carmel Bach Festival, where he's slated to sing in Orff's Carmina Burana and Bach's St. Matthew's Passion.
Bradley Smoak, Michael Hewitt, Tony Potts & Philip Kalmanovitch
Bass-barihunk Bradley Smoak walked away with the $20,000 Grand Prize at this year's Lotte Lenya Competition. Smoak's winning set included Kurt Weill's “This is the Life” from Love Life, “Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni” from Bellini's La sonnambula, “Higher Than a Hawk” from Calamity Jane, and “Me” from Beauty and the Beast.
It was a good year all around for barihunks, as Tony Potts and former barihunks calendar models Philip Kalmanovitch and Michael Hewitt also were awarded $3000 Special Prizes.
Bradley Smoak's winning set:
Contestants were required to prepare four selections: an aria from the opera or operetta repertoire; two songs from the American musical theater repertoire (one from the pre-1968 "Golden Age" and one from 1968 or later); and a theatrical selection by Kurt Weill.
Philip Kalmanovitch at the Lotte Lenya competition:
Michael Hewitt at the Lotte Lenya competition:
Tony Potts at the Lotte Lenya competition:
Held annually by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, the Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest that recognizes talented young singer-actors, ages 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire, and emphasizes the acting of songs and arias within a dramatic context.
Previous winners of the Lotte Lenya competition will be familiar to our readers, including barihunks Lucas Meachem, Liam Bonner and Jonathan Michie, Doug Carpenter, as well as tenor Noah Stewart.
Michael Maliakel, who stands at 6'4", was this year's winner of the American Traditions Competition in Savannah, Georgia and is new to the site. He also took first place in the 2014 National Music Theater Competition, 3rd Prize at the 2015 Lotte Lenya Competition and was a
finalist in the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield
Competition.
A native of New Jersey, Maliakel received his earliest vocal training as a
treble in the American Boychoir before pursuing a BM from the Peabody
Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He currently lives in New York City.
Last June, he performed an evening of Kurt Weill at Feinstein’s/54 Below with the Light Opera of New York. Other opera credits include Monsieur Presto in Poulenc’s Les mamelles de
Tirésias, the Shoe Salesman in Argento’s Postcard from Morocco,
Raimondo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, and the baritone in Philip
Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox.
Maliakel’s concert appearances have included the baritone solos in Handel's Messiah, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, Fauré’s Requiem, Rossini's Petite messe solennelle, Bach's Magnificat, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.
In addition to his solo pursuits, Maliakel teaches voice privately and performs regularly with some of New York City-based vocal ensembles.
The American Traditions Competition is currently taking applications for singers over the age of 21to compete in their 2017 competition. You can apply HERE. In addition to Maliakel, other barihunk winners of the competition include Andrew Garland in 2003 and Douglas Carpenter in 2011.
We're usually pretty clear about our mission at Barihunks, which is to promote baritones (down to bass) who take great care of their voices as well as their bodies. Generally, that has meant operatic baritones, but occasionally those lines get blurred. Take the cases of Ramin Karimloo, Doug Carpenter and Seph Stanek, three of the most popular singers to have appeared on this site. All three were trained as operatic baritones, but both have crossed over into other genres.
Paulo Szot, Seph Stanke and Doug Carpenter
Ramin Karimloo has gone on to be one of the most heralded singers to perform Jean Valjean in Les Mirerables and the title character in Phantom of the Opera. Seph Stanek, who studied classical voice at Furman University and the L'Accademia dell'Arte, went on to have a career as part of the crossover group Figaro, sang on tour with the Twelve Tenors and even starred in Naked Boys Singing! Then there's the case of Paulo Szot, one of opera's biggest stars, who is probably best known for singing Emile De Beque in South Pacific, taking home a Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award the Outer Critic’s Circle Award and the Theater World Award.
That brings us to Jan-Philipp Rekeszus and Nicky Wuchinger, two German singers with operatic pedigree who are making their mark in operetta and musical theater. Wuchinger was a finalist in the Lotte Lenya Competition when fellow barihunk Doug Carpenter took away the top prize. Carpenter has also successfully "crossed over" starring in the national tour of Dirty Dancing.
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Rekeszus and Wuchinger are mentioned in a new article by Kevin Clarke entitled "Eyes Wide Open: A New Generation of Operetta Superstars?." He even refers to Rekeszus as a barihunk, although upon listening to the two singers we'd be compelled to call them bari-tenors, much like Karimloo. Clark imagines Rekeszus as ideal for Wiener Blut or The Merry Widow, and points out the Wuchinger was hired to sing in Eduard Künneke’s operetta Der Vetter aus Dingsda.
Wuchinger and Rekeszus bothe studied voice at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Wuchinger went on to embark on a successful career singing in Cats, The Who's Tommy, Phantom of the Opera and Hairspray. Rekeszus has made his mark performing in Hair and Bye, Bye, Birdie.
We'd love your thoughts on us featuring crossover artists on the site. However, if our statistics are any indication, we think that we know the answer, as posts about Karimloo, Stanek and Carpenter remain some of the most trafficked on the site. Feel free to email us at Barihunks@gmail.com or leave a comment below.
Zachary James, Justin Hopkins and Doug Carpenter (L-R)
Three brilliant, talented and sexy barihunks are featured in the new mini-documentary about the Lotte Lenya Competition: Justin Hopkins, Doug Carpenter and Zachary James.
The 18-minute film offers a close-up view of the Lotte Lenya Competition, tracing the journey of the 2013 Competition through the semi-finals, finals, announcement of the winners, and a 15th anniversary celebration concert at New York's Symphony Space. Through live footage and interviews, "Singing the Story: The Lotte Lenya Competition" reveals the rigorous and unique nature of the Lenya Competition, which challenges singers to go beyond the usual "stand and sing" approach of vocal competitions by requiring them to present fully acted performances of wide-ranging theater repertoire, from opera to Broadway—to "sing the story."
You can watch the entire documentary below:
Watch Doug Carpenter's winning set from the 2013 competition below:
Doug Carpenter has once again created a sensation in our Charity Calendar. This year he appears on our cover, as well as inside the calendar. Some of you may recall his famous "cupcake" shot, which remains one of our most visited pages.
He's currently performing the role of Joey in the 50th Anniversary production of Frank Loesser's Most Happy Fella at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut. There are plenty of more performances, as the show runs through December 1st. You can also meet Doug Carpenter at two "meet the cast" events on October 31 and November 14. Tickets are available online.
Here's a clip of him performing from the production.
In April, he won $15,000 in the prestigious 2013 Lotte Lenya Competition. You can click HERE to see the famous cupcake picture, as well as listen to his winning set from the Lotte Lenya Competition. He sings "C'est Moi" from Lerner and Lowe's Camelot, Pierrot's Tanzlied ("Mein Sehnen, Mein Wehnen") from Korngold's Die Tote Stadt, "This is New" from Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark and "Molasses to Rum" from Sherman Edwards' 1776.
You can click HERE to purchase you 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar.
Doug Carpenter as he appeared in the 2012 Barihunks Calendar
Last Sunday we posted about Doug Carpenter who had just won the Lotte Lenya Competition. The entire video of his winning set of songs is now available on YouTube, so we'd thought we'd share it with you. The American barihunk sang "C'est Moi" from Lerner and Lowe's Camelot, Pierrot's Tanzlied ("Mein Sehnen, Mein Wehnen") from Korngold's Die Tote Stadt, "This is New" from Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark and "Molasses to Rum" from Sherman Edwards' 1776. Shane Schag is accompanying him on piano.
Barihunk Justin Hopkins, who first impressed us in Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox with the Fort Worth Opera Festival, has won second prize in the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition. He shared 2nd place with tenor Jacob Keith Watson. Eastman School of Music master’s degree student Matthew Grills, who was a
winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions last
month, was awarded 1st place.
The Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest
that recognizes talented young singer-actors, ages 19 to 30, who are
dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire, and
emphasizes the acting of songs within a dramatic context. It was
founded in 1998 by foundation President Kim H. Kowalke, who is the
Richard L. Turner Professor in Humanities at the University of Rochester
and professor of musicology at the Eastman School.
Justin Hopkins sings "The Impossible Dream":
Justin Hopkins burst onto the international opera scene in 2010, performing the combined roles of Il Servo, Il Medico and Heraldo in Macbeth with Le Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels in a production that was awarded "Production of the Year" by Opernwelt. In the same season he performed the roles of Colline in La Boheme with the Verbier Festival Academy and Cappadocian in Richard Strauss' Salome under the direction of Valery Gergiev with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland.
Hopkins was a semi-finalist in the Competizione dell' Opera at The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow as well as a finalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition.
A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Hopkins began singing at the age of eight with the Philadelphia Boys Choir and Men's Chorale.
