2010 LOTTE LENYA COMPETITION ENCOURAGES YOUNG TALENT
NEW YORK, March 24, 2010 - Eight impressive young singer-actors, ages 19-23, have been honored with Young Talent Awards in the 2010 Lotte Lenya Competition, including current NYU Steinhardt vocal performance major Blair Goldberg. Out of 230 auditions this year-the largest pool in the history of the competition-sixteen finalists were selected. Young Talent Awards are given to contestants who are early in their studies or careers and show exceptional promise in the first round of auditions but don't become finalists. They are encouraged to enter the competition again in future years.
In addition, the Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise, given to a non-finalist opera singer, was awarded to Julia Teitel, 26, of Malden, Massachussetts, a 2008 graduate of Eastman School of Music. The award was established in honor of singer-actress Grace Keagy, a past judge for the competition and a great supporter, who was a memorable Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and Frau Begbick in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
Held annually by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, the Lotte Lenya Competition is an international competition that recognizes talented young singer-actors, aged 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire. In addition to singing an aria and a song from the American musical theater, contestants must prepare two contrasting songs by Kurt Weill, Lenya's husband and one of the most versatile and influential theater composers of the 20th century (The Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Street Scene, Lady in the Dark).
Legendary soprano Teresa Stratas has judged the competition nine times. Reflecting upon the importance of a competition that focuses on the combination of singing and acting, she notes, "This is the only competition that requires contestants to prepare so many kinds of songs, and then take what the judges give them and immediately put it to work. What a terrific idea that honors the singing and Lenya both."
The 2010 Young Talent Award recipients are:
Krista Buccellato, 21, Boston, MA
Margaret Dietrich, 20, Oklahoma City, OK
Lora Lee Gayer, 21, Naples, FL
Blair Goldberg, 20, New York, NY
Joseph Mikolaj, 23, New Haven, CT
Annie J. Rago, 19, Pittsburgh, PA
Adam R. Richardson, 22, New York, NY
Daniel Schwait, 20, New York, NY
These promising young performers are current students or recent graduates of some of the top opera, musical theater, and vocal performance programs in the country: Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, New York University, Yale University, Emerson College, and Oklahoma City University.
Previous Lenya Competition winners have gone on to play leading roles on Broadway, in regional theaters and national tours; appear in leading roles in major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago; and sing in concert in the Tanglewood, Spoleto and Ravinia Festivals. Collectively, they have earned dozens of prizes in some of the world's most prestigious vocal competitions, including winning the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and Grand Prize of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
About the Lotte Lenya Competition
The Lotte Lenya Competition, an annual international theater singing competition held by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, honors the legacy of legendary singer/actress Lotte Lenya (1898-1981), who was one of the foremost interpreters of the music of her husband, Kurt Weill (1900-1950). The competition recognizes talented young singer-actors aged 19-32 who are dramatically and musically convincing in contrasting modes of theater music by Kurt Weill and other composers. More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition is a theater singing competition that emphasizes wide-ranging repertoire and the acting of songs within a dramatic context. (http://www.kwf.org/kwf/llcs-about )
About the Kurt Weill Foundation
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. (http://www.kwf.org) is a non-profit, private foundation chartered to preserve and perpetuate the legacies of composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and his wife, actress-singer Lotte Lenya (1898-1981). Kurt Weill is well known as the composer of The Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny, Lady in the Dark, Street Scene, and many other innovative works for the theater. Lenya was one of the foremost interpreters of Weill's work, and had a long career in theater and film as a singer and actress. Founded by Lenya in 1962, the Kurt Weill Foundation administers the Weill-Lenya Research Center, a Grant Program, the Kurt Weill Book Prize and the Lotte Lenya Competition, and publishes the Kurt Weill Edition and the Kurt Weill Newsletter.
If you'd like more information about this topic, please contact Kate Chisholm at (212) 505-5240 or kchisholm@kwf.org.
NEW YORK, March 24, 2010 - Eight impressive young singer-actors, ages 19-23, have been honored with Young Talent Awards in the 2010 Lotte Lenya Competition, including current NYU Steinhardt vocal performance major Blair Goldberg. Out of 230 auditions this year-the largest pool in the history of the competition-sixteen finalists were selected. Young Talent Awards are given to contestants who are early in their studies or careers and show exceptional promise in the first round of auditions but don't become finalists. They are encouraged to enter the competition again in future years.
In addition, the Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise, given to a non-finalist opera singer, was awarded to Julia Teitel, 26, of Malden, Massachussetts, a 2008 graduate of Eastman School of Music. The award was established in honor of singer-actress Grace Keagy, a past judge for the competition and a great supporter, who was a memorable Mrs. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and Frau Begbick in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
Held annually by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, the Lotte Lenya Competition is an international competition that recognizes talented young singer-actors, aged 19-32, who are dramatically and musically convincing in a wide range of repertoire. In addition to singing an aria and a song from the American musical theater, contestants must prepare two contrasting songs by Kurt Weill, Lenya's husband and one of the most versatile and influential theater composers of the 20th century (The Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Street Scene, Lady in the Dark).
Legendary soprano Teresa Stratas has judged the competition nine times. Reflecting upon the importance of a competition that focuses on the combination of singing and acting, she notes, "This is the only competition that requires contestants to prepare so many kinds of songs, and then take what the judges give them and immediately put it to work. What a terrific idea that honors the singing and Lenya both."
The 2010 Young Talent Award recipients are:
Krista Buccellato, 21, Boston, MA
Margaret Dietrich, 20, Oklahoma City, OK
Lora Lee Gayer, 21, Naples, FL
Blair Goldberg, 20, New York, NY
Joseph Mikolaj, 23, New Haven, CT
Annie J. Rago, 19, Pittsburgh, PA
Adam R. Richardson, 22, New York, NY
Daniel Schwait, 20, New York, NY
These promising young performers are current students or recent graduates of some of the top opera, musical theater, and vocal performance programs in the country: Eastman School of Music, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, New York University, Yale University, Emerson College, and Oklahoma City University.
Previous Lenya Competition winners have gone on to play leading roles on Broadway, in regional theaters and national tours; appear in leading roles in major opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago; and sing in concert in the Tanglewood, Spoleto and Ravinia Festivals. Collectively, they have earned dozens of prizes in some of the world's most prestigious vocal competitions, including winning the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and Grand Prize of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
About the Lotte Lenya Competition
The Lotte Lenya Competition, an annual international theater singing competition held by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, honors the legacy of legendary singer/actress Lotte Lenya (1898-1981), who was one of the foremost interpreters of the music of her husband, Kurt Weill (1900-1950). The competition recognizes talented young singer-actors aged 19-32 who are dramatically and musically convincing in contrasting modes of theater music by Kurt Weill and other composers. More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition is a theater singing competition that emphasizes wide-ranging repertoire and the acting of songs within a dramatic context. (http://www.kwf.org/kwf/llcs-about )
About the Kurt Weill Foundation
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc. (http://www.kwf.org) is a non-profit, private foundation chartered to preserve and perpetuate the legacies of composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and his wife, actress-singer Lotte Lenya (1898-1981). Kurt Weill is well known as the composer of The Threepenny Opera, Mahagonny, Lady in the Dark, Street Scene, and many other innovative works for the theater. Lenya was one of the foremost interpreters of Weill's work, and had a long career in theater and film as a singer and actress. Founded by Lenya in 1962, the Kurt Weill Foundation administers the Weill-Lenya Research Center, a Grant Program, the Kurt Weill Book Prize and the Lotte Lenya Competition, and publishes the Kurt Weill Edition and the Kurt Weill Newsletter.
If you'd like more information about this topic, please contact Kate Chisholm at (212) 505-5240 or kchisholm@kwf.org.