USU Music Department presents first annual Opera Aria Competition
The Utah State University Music Department, housed in the Caine College of the Arts, hosted their first annual Opera Aria Competition at the Russell-Wanlass Concert Hall on Monday.
Finalists were accompanied by collaborative piano professor and vocal coach Dr. Sara Chiesa. Contestants performed pieces from composers such as Mozart, Handel, Verdi and Gounod. Each finalist has been working on their particular competition pieces since the beginning of last semester.
All eight finalists presented their arias to an audience of classmates, families and friends as well as a panel of judges.
The panel was comprised of Dr. Robert Breault, voice director of opera at the University of Utah, Dr. Ryan Behan, an instructor of piano and collaborative piano at Ohio State University and Dr. Robin Rice, Professor of voice and co-chair of voice at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Dr. Errik Hood, the voice and opera area program coordinator and interim director of opera at USU, has guided these students through the process of perfecting their competition pieces.
Dr. Hood said that throughout the duration of the program, the goal is to prepare vocal performance students for their jobs. The students get lots of experience throughout their time in the program to practice for recitals, auditions and performances; the only thing that isn’t built into the program is competition experience.
“Competitions are the way that a lot of singers get exposure, make the money they need to pay for their lessons and coaching and traveling for auditions. So, we tried and wanted to create an opportunity for that,” Dr. Hood said.
After finalists performed their chosen arias, the judges were sent off to make their decision and the audience was tasked with picking the recipient of the audience favorite award.
Errik Hood The winner of this year’s competition, Megan Warburton, a soprano, junior and vocal performance major, presented “Ah! Je veux vivre” from Charles Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette. Warburton was also the recipient of the audience favorite award in addition to being the judge’s choice. She will be receiving a scholarship for next year.
“I’m just very grateful,” Warburton said. “All these singers are amazing. They’re my friends and they all were great. It was just fun to share the stage with them.”
All eight finalists will be back to participate in the competition next year. Before then, students and community members can catch the music department’s opera, which will be presented in April.
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