On April 26th, OGSA presented its annual opera student competition, Quest For the Best, in Holsclaw Hall at the University of Arizona School of Music. Not only did we hear beautiful arias, but the audience had the opportunity to vote on their favorite undergraduate and graduate singers and to meet the future stars of opera at the reception which followed.
All of the singers on the program were the Best based on UA faculty recommendations and received the following awards: Undergraduates $600 and Graduates $800. Soprano Clarissa Smith and tenor Stephan Vikingur took home additional prizes after being selected as the graduate and undergraduate audience favorites, respectively.
Congratulations to all of these distinguished young artists! Take a look a the program book below to learn more about the singers and their aria selections, from Mozart to Verdi to Bernstein.
Quest for the Best 2024 a Success! Listen in!!
About 75 opera lovers welcomed The Opera Guild’s signature concert and reception back to Holsclaw Hall Saturday afternoon, April 6. This concert featuring the top graduate and undergraduate opera students in Southern Arizona is a perennial favorite of audience, students, and faculty alike, and was last held on campus in 2019. Once again, this year’s Quest for the Best gave the singers the opportunity to perform in concert form for the general public, and then to relax and chat with peers, faculty, and guests at a delicious dessert reception. And through the generosity of our donors each student received financial help toward their opera education—$1050 to each graduate student and $750 to each undergrad, for a total of $8550 .
The technical staff of the UA School of Music recorded each of the arias for your enjoyment. We are happy to feature them below. (Note: Undergraduate soprano Audrey Bailey was unable to perform at the concert due to illness. Nonetheless, she will receive her award and will sing for us at the Opera Guild’s annual meeting and member party on May 18.)
Undergraduate Singers
from Alcina, by George Frideric Handel (1685–1759).
Morgana (in some productions, Alcina) intends to keep the captured paladin Ruggiero in her power.
from Le nozze di Figaro, by W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Susanna sings a love song intended to provoke Figaro’s jealousy.
Graduate Student Singers
from Don Giovanni, by W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)
To a shocked Donna Elvira, Leporello summarizes the long list of the Don’s conquests in numerous countries.
from La bohème, by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Mimi, devastated by Rodolfo’s intended departure, asks him to return her meager possessions to her former room.
from Roméo et Juliette, by Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Roméo’s page, Stéphano, taunts the Capulets that their white dove (Juliette) will one day leave the nest of vultures.
from Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Mario, condemned to die, tries to write a letter to Tosca, but recalls their love and his re-awakened passion for life.
from Die Tote Stadt, by Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
Marietta sings an intense, sad song of lost love to the recently widowed Paul.
from La fille du régiment, by Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
Tonio explains that he has joined the regiment because he loves the regiment’s “daughter” Marie.