Houston Grand Opera Announces Concert of Arias 2011 Finalists

Houston Grand Opera announced the finalists today in the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers to be presented in the annual Concert of Arias on Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. in the Cullen Theater of the Wortham Center. Now in its twenty-third year, Concert of Arias is the final round of the annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, which exists to discover talented young singers who might be possible future members of the HGO Studio. This year's competition will feature eight finalists: tenor Mark Van Arsdale, bass-baritone Noel Bouley, baritone Mark Diamond, baritone Thomas Florio, bass Adam Lau, mezzo-soprano Nicole Rodin, soprano Lauren Snouffer, and soprano Jessica Stavros.
Concert of Arias 2011 is chaired by Marianne and David Duthu and honors Dr. and Mrs. C. Richard Stasney for their many contributions to HGO.

Joining HGO General Director and CEO Anthony Freud and HGO Music Director Patrick Summers as guest judge will be the beloved and distinguished mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, whom the New York Times has described as "one of America's finest artists and singers." Mrs. von Stade is in Houston singing the role of Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Dead Man Walking at HGO; these performances mark her farewell to the opera stage.
This year HGO received more than 700 applications from around the world from young singers interested in competing for top honors at Concert of Arias. After auditions in four cities across the U.S. in November 2010, twenty semi-finalists were flown in for a weekend of auditions. Finalists perform opera's most popular arias and compete for coveted fellowships in the acclaimed HGO Studio, and $25,000 in cash prizes. The audience also has the opportunity to participate in the evening's events when they choose their favorite singer for the Audience Choice Award (underwritten by Vincent & Elkins, LLP).

The evening also features performances by current artists of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, one of the world's finest young artist training programs.

Prior to the program there will be a champagne reception sponsored by Pommery Champagne and The Tasting Room at 6:00 p.m. and following the concert, there will be a celebration dinner prepared by Jackson and Company in the Wortham Center's Grand Foyer for the artists, patrons, and underwriters.

Individual tickets for the concert are available for $36-$76. For ticket and general information, call (713)-228-OPERA or view online at www.houstongrandopera.org.
All proceeds from Concert of Arias 2011 benefit The Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers and Houston Grand Opera Studio's ongoing outreach efforts to identify, attract and nurture the best vocal talent in the United States. Distinguished Studio alumni who now enjoy major careers include Albina Shagimuratova, Denyce Graves, Eric Halfvarson, Joyce DiDonato, Richard Paul Fink, Bruce Ford, Susanne Mentzer, Ana María Martínez, and Raymond Very.