Jonathan Michie News

LA Opera professional artists will once again collaborate with more than 300 amateur members of the Los Angeles musical community to present two performances of Benjamin Britten's Noah's Flood this spring at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. Conducted by LA Opera Music Director James Conlon, the performances will take place at 7:30pm on Friday, March 6, and at 7:30pm on Saturday, March 7.

Kim H. Kowalke, President of The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, announced today the launch of the 2015 Lotte Lenya Competition, a program of the Foundation. The Lotte Lenya Competition seeks exceptionally talented young singer/actors who excel in a wide range of musical theater styles for the 2015 contest. Contestants will compete for top prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500; total prizes awarded will exceed $50,000.

Ben Edquist, of Houston, won the $15,000 First Prize in the finals of the 2014 Lotte Lenya Competition, sponsored by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music and held on April 12, 2014, in Kilbourn Hall of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Arlo Hill, of New York, won the Second Prize of $10,000, and the Third Prize of $7,500 was awarded to Natalie Ballenger, also of New York.

Fourteen exceptionally talented young singer-actors have been selected as finalists in the 2014 Lotte Lenya Competition. They will compete for top prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 on Saturday, April 12, 2014, in Rochester, New York. Broadway conductor and Encores! music director Rob Berman, 2-time Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Artistic Director James Robinson will judge.

The Lotte Lenya Competition has announced it is seeking exceptionally talented young singer/actors who excel in a wide range of musical theater styles for the 2014 competition.

Douglas Carpenter, baritone, of New York, won the $15,000 First Prize in the finals of the 15th annual Lotte Lenya Competition, held on April 13, 2013, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Maren Weinberger, soprano, of New York, received the Second Prize of $10,000, and two Third Prizes of $7,500 each were awarded to Alison Arnopp, soprano, of County Cork, Ireland, and Lauren Roesner, soprano, of Cincinnati. Founded in 1998 to celebrate the centenary of Lenya's birth, the Lotte Lenya Competition is an international theater singing contest that recognizes talented young singer/actors, ages 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire.

Twelve exceptionally talented young singer-actors, with previous stage experience ranging from roles on Broadway to the Metropolitan Opera House, have been named finalists in the 2013 Lotte Lenya Competition. They will compete for top prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Acclaimed soprano and 2010 Opera News Award winner Patricia Racette, British opera and musical theater conductor James Holmes, and Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President and American Theater Wing Vice-Chairman Theodore S. Chapin will serve as judges.

Matthew Grills, tenor, of Rochester, N.Y, won the $15,000 First Prize in the finals of the 2012 Lotte Lenya Competition, held on April 21, 2012, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. In a close contest, Justin Hopkins, bass-baritone of Philadelphia, and Jacob Keith Watson, tenor of Wynne, Ark., tied for Second Prizes of $10,000, and Megan Marino, mezzo-soprano of Malvern, Penn., was awarded the Third Prize of $7,500.

Twelve exceptionally talented young singer-actors have made it through two rounds of auditions for the 2012 Lotte Lenya Competition and will compete for top prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 in the finals, to be held on April 21, 2012, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Three-time Tony Award nominee Rebecca Luker, Broadway and Encores! music director Rob Berman, and Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President and American Theater Wing Chairman of the Board Theodore S. Chapin will serve as judges.

Florida Grand Opera's 2011-2012 season closes with a French classic, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, opening on April 21, 2012. Directed by David Lefkowich, making his FGO main stage debut, this production employs innovative light projection and multi-unit sets to drive the emotion behind the timeless tale of star-crossed lovers.

Caitlin Mathes, mezzo-soprano of Dayville, Connecticut, won the $15,000 First Prize in the finals of the 2011 Lotte Lenya Competition, held on April 16, 2011, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Instead of awarding Second and Third Prizes, judges presented three equal prizes of $8,000 each to Jing Lin, soprano, of Putian, China; Emma Sewell, soprano, of London, England; and Jacob Lewis Smith, bass/baritone, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Ravinia Festival Chairperson Pamela B. Strobel and President and CEO Welz Kauffman today announced details of the 2009 season of music theater and dance events.

A one-night-only concert performance Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, The New Musical on Tuesday, October 21, at Rochester, NY's historic Eastman Theatre earned a lengthy standing ovation from its full house of almost 3,000, and drew glowing reviews from local press.

Producers of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, The New Musical announce that Laura Osnes (Grease!, winner of Grease: You're the One that I Want!) will play the role of Elizabeth (Lizzy) Bennet in the Broadway-bound musical's one-night-only performance at Rochester's historic Eastman Theatre on Tuesday, October 21

Young Talents Emerge at Lotte Lenya Competition for Singers Winners Chosen by Harold Prince, William Bolcom, and Angelina Réaux