Dallas Opera Vocal Competition Awards $19,250 In Cash Prizes

A recent graduate of Southern Methodist University, 23-year-old soprano Valerie Vizant won First Prize after the lithe beauty in the red evening gown wowed judges with a finals round performance comprised of selections from Massenet's Manon ("Gavotte") and Handel's Giulio Cesare ("V'adoro pupille").

Ms. Vinzant, from Spring, Texas, is continuing her studies at Indiana University in Bloomington under the guidance of opera star Carol Vaness and she will be singing at Wolf Trap this summer. Ms. Vinzant is also a St. Louis District Winner of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has performed locally with the Dallas Opera Orchestra, members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and in a Dallas Museum of Art showcase.

The Constance A. Klemow Founder's Award for Second Place (on behalf of The Connie and Jerry Klemow Foundation) and $5,000 was presented to 24-year-old soprano Dee Donasco, a soloist and cantor of Corpus Christi Cathedral in South Texas now studying with Flicka Rahn. During the Finals Round, she charmed the audience with selections from Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann ("Les oiseaux dans la charmille") and Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree ("I Yearn So t'Know Things").

For the first time ever, there was a tie for Third Place and the $3,000 Bayne Blankenship Award will be split between tenor Eric Barry of Amarillo and baritone Brian Shircliffe of Houston, Texas. Mr. Barry, who will appear later this month in Don Pasquale for Amarillo Opera, is completing his Master's Degree in Business Administration at West Texas A & M University and plans to study vocal performance in either New York City or Philadelphia in the fall. During the finals, he performed "Lonely House" from Kurt Weill's Street Scene and "Amor ti vieta" from Umberto Giordano's Fedora.

Mr. Shircliffe is currently pursing a Master's in Music at the University of Houston, Moore School of Music. He has sung professionally with Houston Grand Opera, the San Antonio Youth Orchestra and Houston's Opera in the Heights. Saturday night, he performed lively renditions of two Figaros: "They Wish They Could Kill Me" from Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles and the classic "Largo al factotum" from The Barber of Seville.

Brian Shircliffe also won the hearts of the Gooch auditorium audience, which awarded him with the People's Choice Award, which carries an additional one thousand dollar cash prize. This year's $1,000 "Encouragement Award" was presented to 22-year-old mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin, who, during the finals, sang selections from The Rape of Lucretia and Carmen.

The remaining finalists were each presented with a check for $250 by The Dallas Opera Guild.

"This was not an easy decision," admitted Director of Artistic Administration

Jonathan Pell. "We (the judges) went round and round - and round again, in order to make up our minds."

The process began with the selection of 19 semifinalists, all but one of whom performed Saturday (one competitor withdrew due to illness). Participants in the preliminary round were selected by Dale Dietert, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at SMU, trained as a pianist and organist and a highly successful voice teacher and coach; Ben Malensek, head of The Dallas Opera music staff and Principal Coach at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis; and soprano Jeanine Thames, a singer acclaimed worldwide for her dramatic and comedic acting skills, in addition to her "silvery" voice. In addition to Mr. Pell, the judges for Saturday's competition phase were internationally renowned soprano Mary Jane Johnson; Robert Mauro, Assistant Artistic Director, Michigan Opera Theater; Lenore Rosenberg, Director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and Associate Artistic Director of The Metropolitan Opera and Christina Scheppelmann, Director of Artistic Operations, Washington National Opera.

Nearly all the singers were accompanied, throughout both rounds of the competition, by pianist Tara Emerson, an accomplished opera and vocal coach who lends her expertise to competitions both here and abroad. The Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, chaired by Greg McConeghy, is designed to reward promising, young, mostly home-grown talents (all competitors must be Texans between the ages of 18 and 30), who aspire to professional singing careers. The 2007 Competition honors music lovers Sandra and Bill Sanderson for their hands-on involvement in the arts - and The Dallas Opera Guild, where they served as co- Presidents in 1998-1999.

Sandra joined the Guild Board as Docent Chair and later served as Vice-President for Student Education. She is currently completing her two year term as the Chair of The Dallas Opera's Education Committee and as a member of TDO's Board of Directors. Bill and Sandra have also served together as Adult Education Vice-Presidents and participated in the Adopt-an-Artist program.

From awards totaling $2,000 its first year, The Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, funded entirely by donations, continues to provide much-needed financial assistance to gifted young artists. Previous Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition winners have gone on to win the coveted Grand Prize of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Richard Tucker Competition, and places in some of the most prestigious opera company programs in the country.

Dallas Opera Guild President Marilyn Halla has information indicating that at least seventeen past winners perform regularly in prestigious U.S. and European venues and more than a dozen grant winners have sung featured roles in Dallas Opera productions.

The Vocal Competition Advisory Board is chaired by Jeanette Wharton.

2007 Finalists, The Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition

Eric Barry, tenor, age 25

Aaron Blake, tenor, age 23

Dee Donasco, soprano, age 24

Nereida García, soprano, age 23

Julie-Anne Hamula, soprano, age 23

Catherine Martin, mezzo-soprano, age 22

Phandulwazi Maseti, tenor, age 24

Kevin Park, tenor, age 24

Brian Shircliffe, baritone, age 28

Valerie Vinzant, soprano, age 23

Platinum Patrons ($2,500 and above) include Bayne Blankenship and The Connie and Jerry Klemow Foundation. Gold Patrons ($1,000-$2,499) include the Sheila Harms Memorial Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Greg McConeghy and James R. Seitz, Jr. Silver Patrons for this year's vocal competition ($500-$999) include Francine J. Daner, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Hendrix, Jesse and Terri Jones, Eleanor Krebs, Mrs. and Mrs. Tom H. McCasland, Jr., Jane and David McGinnis, Mr. and Mrs. Peter O'Donnell, Jr., and Angela D. Paulos.

Underwriters for this year's Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition included:

Jon and Laurie Bigelow

Mr. Bayne Blankenship, Sr.

Dr. Susan G. Fleming

The Sheila Harms Fund

Connie Klemow

Roger S. Hodge (Hodge Printing)

Dr. and Mrs. Kern Wildenthal (U.T. Southwestern) -- www.dallasopera.org