Lila Chrisp Wins First Prize at 28th Annual Lenya Competition
Claire Griffin and Ilanna Starr each earn $20,000 second prize at Kilbourn Hall in Rochester
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music has announced the winners of the twenty-eighth annual Lenya Competition, which took place Saturday 9 May at Kilbourn Hall in Rochester, New York. Lila Chrisp took home the First Prize of $25,000, being the second winner in as many years from the United Kingdom.
Claire Griffin and Ilanna Starr finished in a virtual tie and were each awarded a $20,000 Second Prize. Kim Kowalke, President and CEO of the Kurt Weill Foundation, lauded Chrisp's embodiment of the Competition's ideals: "Lila indeed demonstrated that she could 'do it all' in diverse repertoire in three languages, ranging from Monteverdi to Blumenkranz, all idiomatically sung and acted with consummate artistry." An edited version of the Finals will be streamed free and on-demand to audiences worldwide beginning 14 May via the Kurt Weill Foundation website.
With its focus on both acting and vocal skills, the Lenya Competition celebrates talented singing actors of all nationalities who can "do it all" across the dynamic landscape of music theater. Each finalist performed a continuous fifteen-minute program of four contrasting numbers, including a selection by Kurt Weill, before a jury of three esteemed artists whose careers mirror the values of the Competition: Olivier Award nominee and 2010 Lenya Competition prizewinner Kyle Scatliffe, a Broadway veteran of Hamilton, LES MISERABLES, and The Color Purple, and currently appearing as one of the Phantoms in the immersive Masquerade off-Broadway; Tony Award-winner Ted Sperling, multi-faceted conductor and director who has served as Music Director for Broadway productions of My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, and The King and I; and Jeanine Tesori, celebrated two-time Tony Award-winning composer of musical theater and opera, recently named as a Visionary Artist by New York City's Lincoln Center.
Two artists additionally received $6,000 discretionary awards: Matthew Dexter the Award for Extraordinary Promise; and Erik Grendahl the Teresa Stratas Award, for outstanding performance of an opera aria. The Stratas Award is named for the opera legend who herself was an eleven-time judge in the Lenya Competition. Each of the remaining contestants received a finalist prize of $3,000: Dominic Delzompo, Stavros Koumbaros, Francesca Mehrotra, Gemma Nha, Sadie Spivey.
The ten finalists were selected through the Lenya Competition's unique semifinal judging-coaching format. Eighteen semifinalists auditioned in person in New York City, performing their program and then receiving immediate feedback and coaching from one of two semifinal judges. This year's coach-adjudicators were two-time Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and director Victoria Clark and Andy Einhorn, accompanist and conductor for Audra McDonald and Music Director of the recent hit Broadway revival of Gypsy.
This year's Competition incorporated an Audience Choice Award determined by listeners based on an additional "crowd-pleasing" number performed in an evening concert preceding the awards ceremony. The artist receiving the most votes and a $3,000 prize was Erik Grendahl, who performed "Me" from Beauty and the Beast. The evening concert and awards ceremony were co-hosted by Kim Kowalke, who founded the Competition in 1998, and Brady Sansone, Director of Programs and Business Affairs.
About the Lenya Competition
More than a vocal competition, the Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of "total-package talents" (Opera News). In awarding more than $1.8 million in prize money since the Competition began, the Kurt Weill Foundation has celebrated the talent and supported the careers of hundreds of singing actors worldwide.
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