15th Amici Vocal Competition Winners Announced

Opera Theater of Connecticut, the state's oldest professional opera company, held its 15th Amici Vocal Competition on Saturday, May 12, 2012, which featured some of the Connecticut's finest young opera singers in the intimate setting of the Andrews Memorial Theater in Clinton.

This competition, hosted by the Amici, Opera Theater's volunteer support group, is the only vocal competition in the state specifically for Connecticut singers and students.

Two groups of singers were heard; Student Singers and Young Professionals. An awards ceremony and brief reception followed, giving the audience a chance to meet and congratulate their favorite singers.

Winners in the Student Singers division were Christina DiMuro and Elizabeth Kinder, both sopranos, taking Honorable Mentions, Candice Edwards, soprano, in third place, Ryan Burns, baritone, second place, and Michael Spaziani in first place.

In the Young Professionals division, Honorable Mentions were presented to Karolina Wojteczko, mezzo, and Joshua May, tenor. Third place was awarded to coloratura soprano Claudia Rosenthal, second place to baritone Luke Scott, and tenor Christopher Lucier was presented with first place.
Two special awards were also conferred: soprano Bernadetta Cordaro was given the William Calvert Encouragement Award and Claudia Rosenthal was presented with the Galli-Campi Award for most promising coloratura.

Monetary prizes were awarded in each division and winning singers are often given performance opportunities in Opera Theater Productions and concerts.

Judges for this year's competition were Alan Mann, Artistic Director of Opera Theater of Connecticut, Shawn Marie Jeffrey, Artist Manager at ADA Artist Management and Representation, and Rene de la Garza, Artistic Director of Opera Providence, Lecturer in Music at University of Rhode Island, and Director of URI Opera Workshop.

The competition was open to the public. For more information about the competition, visit www.operatheater-ct.org.