Opera San Jose Holds Sixth Annual Sixth Annual Irene Dalis Vocal Competition

Opera San José will celebrate classical stars in classical voice at the Sixth-Annual Irene Dalis Vocal Competition on May 19 at 3 pm at the California Theatre in downtown San José.

Ten finalists selected from the 2012 West Coast Auditions for Singers will perform some of the most beloved opera arias as they vie for nearly $50,000 in cash prizes, including a $5,000 prize for the Audience Favorite to be selected by popular vote during the final intermission. First prize is $15,000; second prize, $10,000; and third prize, $5,000. The remaining seven finalists will each receive a $2,000 award.

A distinguished panel of judges will select the top three winners at the competition including Henry Akina, General Director and Artistic Director of Hawaii Opera Theatre; Ward Holmquist, Artistic Director of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; and Brad Trexell, Director of Artistic Operations of Opera Colorado.  Timm Rolek, Artistic Director and Conductor of Lake Tahoe Music Festival; Peter Jaffe, Music Director and Conductor of Stockton Symphony; and Richard Harrell, Opera Program Director of San Francisco Conservatory of Music and visiting faculty for the Opera Studio of the Netherlands, will serve on the preliminary panel.  Accompanist for both the vocal competition finals and the auditions is pianist Catherine Miller.

The Irene Dalis Vocal Competition continues to recognize emerging opera singers from across the country. Most recently, soprano Audrey Luna, third-prize winner in 2009, was featured in the April 2012 edition of Opera News.  She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2010-11 season as Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos and returns to the Met in the 2012-13 season to sing Ariel in The Tempest. First-prize winner in 2010, soprano Danielle Talamantes, received a full cover contract with the Met for the 2010-11 season and first-prize winner in 2009, baritone Jordan Shanahan, also attracted the attention of the Met, where he was cast in five productions including the roles of Kallenbach in Satyagraha by Philip Glass and Oppenheimer in Dr. Atomic by John Adams, and was also featured in Opera News.

“Year after year, our competition attracts exciting talent to the Bay Area,” says General Director, Irene Dalis. “I can’t imagine a more enjoyable way to spend an afternoon than hearing such fine operatic artists sing the most spectacular arias in the repertoire as they compete for such handsome cash prizes.  It is an event not to be missed.” 

Tickets are $100 ($50 is tax-deductible) for premium seating, which includes an opportunity to meet the judges and attend a post-event champagne reception at the Hotel Sainte Claire, and $50 ($25 is tax-deductible) for reserved orchestra seating. Tickets are on sale at the Opera San José Box Office, by phone at (408) 437-4450 or online at www.operasj.org.