Seattle Opera Announces Wagner Finalists

Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins today announced the names of the eight finalists and two alternates selected for the second International Wagner Competition, which will be held at McCaw Hall in Seattle on August 16, 2008.  The singers-all between the ages of 25 and 39-were nominated by agents, general directors, and other established opera professionals. They were then selected as finalists and alternates after Mr. Jenkins and Seattle Opera's principal guest conductor Asher Fisch held auditions in Munich, London, New York, and Seattle in the fall of 2007.  This August, these eight singers will compete for two $15,000 prizes in a concert conducted by Mr. Fisch.  The second International Wagner Competition is once again made possible by a generous contribution from the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences.

The finalists are:
Erin Caves, tenor, from Stockton, California
Jason Collins, tenor, from Beaufort/Seneca, South Carolina
Deborah Humble, mezzo-soprano, from Adelaide, Australia
Darren Jeffery, bass-baritone, from Cambridgeshire, England
Peter Lobert, bass, from Jena, Germany
Michael Weinius, tenor, from Stockholm, Sweden
Nadine Weissmann, mezzo-soprano, from Berlin, Germany
Elza van den Heever, soprano, from Johannesburg, South Africa

The alternates are:
Carla Thelen Hanson, soprano, from Rochester, Minnesota
Joni Henson, soprano, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada

 The judges for Seattle Opera's second International Wagner Competition are an international group of authorities in all aspects of opera production-Hans-Joachim Frey, the General Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Theater Bremen, which includes Oper Bremen; tenor Ben Heppner, well known for his acclaimed performances of the Wagnerian repertoire; stage director Peter Kazaras, Artistic Director of Seattle Opera's Young Artists Program; Pamela Rosenberg, the Administrative Director of the Berlin Philharmonic and former General Director of San Francisco Opera; Stephen Wadsworth, frequent director of Seattle Opera productions, including its highly praised 2001 and 2005 Ring cycles and upcoming 2009 Ring; and Eva Wagner-Pasquier, the daughter of Wolfgang Wagner and an artistic advisor to the Aix-en-Provence Festival. The competition will be conducted by Asher Fisch, Seattle Opera's principal guest conductor.

On Thursday, August 14, two days prior to the International Wagner Competition, Ben Heppner and Asher Fisch will perform a recital in McCaw Hall.

The first International Wagner Competition, held in August 2006, was created by Mr. Jenkins to identify and recognize qualified, emerging opera singers who demonstrate clear promise of an important career in the Wagnerian repertoire.  The winners of the 2006 competition were soprano Miriam Murphy from Dublin, Ireland, and baritone James Rutherford from Dulwich, England.  Since then Ms. Murphy has received significant interest from opera houses in Europe and America and has commented, "When you win a competition of this caliber, people suddenly take you very seriously." Mr. Rutherford was widely praised in his San Francisco Opera debut as Wolfram in the company's production of Wagner's Tannhauser this past summer, when the San Jose Mercury News wrote: "Rutherford sang with expressive power in his early scenes, and his Act III ode to the evening star was elegant and rapturous."

Since 1975, with the presentation of its first Ring cycle, Seattle Opera has built an international reputation as the leading presenter of the Wagner repertoire in the United States.  This Wagner tradition began under the leadership of the company's founding general director, GLynn Ross, and has continued under Speight Jenkins.  During Mr. Jenkins's tenure, Seattle Opera has completed the formidable artistic feat of producing all ten of Wagner's major operas-including two very different productions of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen-which have been accompanied by seminars and symposia featuring leading opera scholars from the world over.  By taking a leading role in discovering and promoting outstanding young singers with a desire to carve out a career that includes the Wagner repertoire, Seattle Opera is extending its ongoing commitment to the music of Richard Wagner.

Competition Funded by the Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences

The first International Wagner Competition was generously funded through a contribution from the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences. Following Mr. Jenkins's announcement of the first-prize winners in August 2006, Susan Hutchison, executive director of the Simonyi Fund, took the stage at McCaw Hall and announced that the Fund would provide a grant to Seattle Opera for its second International Wagner Competition. 

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