Portland Opera Guild sponsors the Metropolitan Opera National Council Oregon District Auditions in October. Individual Guild members and other sponsors make it possible to award monetary prizes to the District winners. . This next year marks the 58th year the auditions have been held here in Portland. Many Guild members volunteer to assist in the production.

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions are held to:

1. To discover exceptional young talent.

2. To provide a venue for young opera singers from all over the country and at all different levels of experience to be heard by a representative of the Metropolitan Opera and to assist those with the greatest potential in their development.

3. To search for new talent for the Metropolitan Opera and the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. The auditions are held annually in fourteen Regions of the United States and Canada. The Auditions are administered by National Council members and volunteers in each region.

Winners of the District auditions advance to their Region Finals where they compete to win a trip to New York to participate in the National Semi-Finals.

Many of the world’s foremost singers, among them Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick have received awards from the National Council. Annually, approximately 100 former auditioners appear in Metropolitan Opera productions.

------METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COUNCIL OREGON DISTRICT AUDITIONS-------

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions,
Oregon District Winners Sunday, October 9, 2011.

Winners pictured (from left): Scott Ingham-Encouragement Award, WinJacqueline Shoda-Iwasaki - Audience Favorite Award, Caitlin Mathes and Albert J. Glueckert Oregon District winners who will advance to the Regional Auditions in Seattle January 22, 2012.

Judged by Cynthia Munzer, Eric Mills and Peter Grunberg to be the Oregon District winners, Caitlin Mathes and Albert J. Glueckert were advanced to the next level of the competition. Eighteen soloists each performed two pieces, their first selection made on their own, and the second solo assigned by the judges. Rodney Menn accompanied most of the contestants.

Constance Clarke, Regional Chairwoman for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Northwest Regional Auditions, encouraged audience members to attend the January 22, 2012 Regional Auditions at Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus. Many Guild members plan to attend.

Portland Opera Guild thanks the generous contribution of Jeannine Cowles to this audition. She has contributed generously to the MONC Oregon District Auditions for over 30 years. Other prize money came from the Dorothea Lensch Scholarship Fund for young singers and from Portland Opera Guild and other members of the Guild including Norman Krasne and Sarah Duvall, Leslie Robinson, Dorothy and Bill Moshofsky, Jerome Magill, Julie Reiersgarrd, Edith Clarke, Norma Letzt and Robert Weiss, Michael Gentry, Mitzi Eillis, A.J. and Marie Colasurdo, Jamie Martell and Mary and Don Svela.

2010 WINNERS

Metropolitan Opera National Council Oregon District Audition Winners
Congratulations to Steven Brennfleck (tenor), Daryl Freedman (mezzo-soprano), Jennifer Forni (lyric soprano), and Adam Lau (bass) who are the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council - Oregon District Auditions winners.

Jutta Allen, Oregon District Director and Past President of the Portland Opera Guild, announced that four singers were awarded $1,000 each. They now advance to the Regional Competition in Seattle at the University of Washington's Meany Theater on Sunday, January 16, 2011