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Ninth Annual Voice Competition
May 12-17 at Engleman Recital Hall, Baruch College
final round May 17 open and free to the public
The 2008 Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Annual Voice Competition www.jensenfoundation.org will take place May 12-17 at Engleman Recital Hall at Baruch College in New York City. The final round, open and free to the public, begins at 11:00 AM on Saturday, May 17, and the community is encouraged to attend.
Judging the Jensen Competition finals this year are Eugene Kohn, conductor, Neal Goren, Artistic Director and Conductor of Gotham Chamber Opera; and Gianna Rolandi, Director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center.
The Jensen Competition carries a first prize of $15,000 plus an engagement with Opera Carolina within three years. Second prize is $10,000, and third prize is awarded $5,000. Additional awards bestowed at the finals bring the total support provided to over $35,000. The competition is open to any legal US resident between the ages of 25 and 35, and who has not yet received an engagement from an Opera America Level I organization [or international equivalent], exclusive of cover, chorus, or young artist program roles.
The Jensen Foundation’s mission is to foster the development of young operatic and classical singers, which it does through its annual competition as well as via funding given through scholarship grants. Established in Statesville, North Carolina by Lavinia Jensen in honor of her late husband Fritz, the Jensen Foundation held its first competition in New York in 2000; since then, the Foundation has provided almost $200,000 in support to young artists planning careers as opera singers.
Past Jensen Competition winners are Wendy Bryn Harmer, soprano; Gaston Rivero, tenor; Andrew Gangestad, bass; Dana Beth Miller, soprano; Audrey Babcock, mezzo-soprano; Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni, tenor; Kristen Chávez, mezzo-soprano, and Jennifer Cooper, mezzo-soprano.
Opera professionals who have judged past Jensen Competitions include Floyd Anderson, Robert Bailey, Daniel Biaggi, Felicity Jackson, James Meena, Andreas Melinat, Gayletha Nichols, Jonathan Pell, Eve Queler, James Robinson, Christina Scheppelmann, Stephen Steiner, Robin Thompson, Brad Trexell, and Darren Woods.
Engleman Recital Hall is located at Baruch College, 55 Lexington Avenue at East 25th Street in New York City. The Hall entrance is located on 25th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues.
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