44th ANNUAL COMPETITION FOR SINGERS
44th ANNUAL COMPETITION FOR SINGERS
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MIDNIGHT
Sunday, November 7, 2020
Congratulations to our Winners!
AWARDS
Category A (ages 17-21)
$500 Neva Pilgrim Award: Calandra Damouras, Crane School of Music
$200 Opera Club of Syracuse Award: Emma Bennett, Binghamton University
in memory of Bea & Irving Solomon
Category B (ages 22-27)
$1000 Helen Boatwright Award: Leah Brzyski, Yale University
$500 Phyllis Brynjulson Award: Sara DeFranco, Eastman School
$500 Ernst Bacon Prize: Rachel Querrveld, Manhattan School
JUDGES
Soprano PHYLLIS BRYNJULSON was Chair of Voice at Peabody from 1987 until 2007. An S.U. Alum, she is known for her pitch-perfect 3-octave range, and made her opera debut in the 1976 world premiere of Sessions’ Montezuma in the lead role of Malinche. At Covent Garden she performed Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges. She was nominated for Grammys in 1997 and 1998, won the Prix du Monde for Dallapiccola’s Il Prigionera, followed by the 1995 best opera Gramophone Award for Schoenberg’s Erwartung. She has sung with orchestras throughout the world and recorded for Decca, New World, Nonesuch, DG, RCA, EMI & others.
Mezzo-soprano SANDRA PIQUES EDDY, a Boston native, has performed with Boston Lyric Opera in several roles, most recently Adalgisa in Norma. Other opera companies she has sung leads with include Atlanta, Omaha, Austin, Portland, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Arizona, Fort Worth, Kentucky, New York City, Canadian, Metropolitan Opera, Glimmerglass, Opera Florentine, Spoleto Festival, and others. As soloist with numerous orchestras, she has performed a wide variety of repertoire, and worked with such conductors as Seiji Ozawa. An MM from Boston University, she won the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions & was a National Semi-finalist.
Bass-Baritone GREGORY SHEPPARD, a Syracuse native, is a CMM Vocal Comp winner, having sung with San Francisco, NYC Opera, Central City, Glimmerglass, Philadelphia, Chattanooga, Orlando, Connecticut, Lake George, Opera Memphis & Dayton opera companies; Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Denver, Sioux City, Illinois & New Haven Symphonies, Metropolitan Opera National Finalist, Sullivan Grant, Friday Music Clubs Award, & Syracuse Opera Artist of the Year. He heads Opera Ebony, a festival in the Adirondacks, has taught at Columbia, and now at John Jay College, plus created roles in world premieres of Society for New Music operas, e.g. Frederick Douglass in Pushed Aside: Reclaiming Gage.
Tenor DINYAR VANIA, a graduate of Onondaga Community College, has earned acclaim for his Don Jose with Opera Coeur d’Alene, Cavaradossi with Opera Roanoke, and Pinkerton with Syracuse Opera, roles he has also performed with several other companies. He has sung with Greensboro Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Anchorage Opera’s 50th Celebration, Utah Opera, Opera Omaha, Minnesota Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Lyric Opera Baltimore, Pensacola Opera, Virginia Opera, Glimmerglass, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Colorado, Spoleto Festival USA, Opera Birmingham, Dayton Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. He has soloed with numerous orchestras throughout the US.
This competition is open to singers who are residents of, or studying in, NYS and those states contiguous with NYS.
50 maximum entries
(once that number is reached, no further submissions will be accepted)
Finalists contacted by November 14 or 15 to determine which American song & other selection the four judges should hear to select winners. Awards presented via Zoom Nov. 22.
AWARDS
Category A (ages 17-21)
Neva Pilgrim Award – $500
Opera Club of Syracuse Award – $200 | in memory of Bea & Irving Solomon
Category B (ages 22-27)
Helen Boatwright Award – $1,000
Phyllis Bryn-Julson Award – $500
Ernst Bacon Prize – $500 for best performance of an American Song
(Visit www.songofamerica.net for American song ideas.)
For those wishing to perform an Ernst Bacon song (1898-1990) in their competition repertoire, visit the Bacon Society web site www.ernstbacon.org, or Spotify and/or request a free copy of Fond Affection (25 Bacon songs) for ideas.
JUDGES
Soprano PHYLLIS BRYNJULSON was Chair of Voice at Peabody from 1987 until 2007. An S.U. Alum, she is known for her pitch-perfect 3-octave range, and made her opera debut in the 1976 world premiere of Sessions’ Montezuma in the lead role of Malinche. At Covent Garden she performed Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol and Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortileges. She was nominated for Grammys in 1997 and 1998, won the Prix du Monde for Dallapiccola’s Il Prigionera, followed by the 1995 best opera Gramophone Award for Schoenberg’s Erwartung. She has sung with orchestras throughout the world and recorded for Decca, New World, Nonesuch, DG, RCA, EMI & others.
Mezzo-soprano SANDRA PIQUES EDDY, a Boston native, has performed with Boston Lyric Opera in several roles, most recently Adalgisa in Norma. Other opera companies she has sung leads with include Atlanta, Omaha, Austin, Portland, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Arizona, Fort Worth, Kentucky, New York City, Canadian, Metropolitan Opera, Glimmerglass, Opera Florentine, Spoleto Festival, and others. As soloist with numerous orchestras, she has performed a wide variety of repertoire, and worked with such conductors as Seiji Ozawa. An MM from Boston University, she won the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions & was a National Semi-finalist.
Bass-Baritone GREGORY SHEPPARD, a Syracuse native, is a CMM Vocal Comp winner, having sung with San Francisco, NYC Opera, Central City, Glimmerglass, Philadelphia, Chattanooga, Orlando, Connecticut, Lake George, Opera Memphis & Dayton opera companies; Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Denver, Sioux City, Illinois & New Haven Symphonies, Metropolitan Opera National Finalist, Sullivan Grant, Friday Music Clubs Award, & Syracuse Opera Artist of the Year. He heads Opera Ebony, a festival in the Adirondacks, has taught at Columbia, and now at John Jay College, plus created roles in world premieres of Society for New Music operas, e.g. Frederick Douglass in Pushed Aside: Reclaiming Gage.
Tenor DINYAR VANIA, a graduate of Onondaga Community College, has earned acclaim for his Don Jose with Opera Coeur d’Alene, Cavaradossi with Opera Roanoke, and Pinkerton with Syracuse Opera, roles he has also performed with several other companies. He has sung with Greensboro Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Anchorage Opera’s 50th Celebration, Utah Opera, Opera Omaha, Minnesota Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Lyric Opera Baltimore, Pensacola Opera, Virginia Opera, Glimmerglass, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Colorado, Spoleto Festival USA, Opera Birmingham, Dayton Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. He has soloed with numerous orchestras throughout the US.
This competition is open to singers who are residents of, or studying in, NYS and those states contiguous with NYS.
COMPETITION REGULATIONS
- Contestants must perform within their age group as of November 7, 2020. Proof of age (copy of driver’s license or passport) must be included with submission.
- Former First Place winners of the CMM Competition may not compete again in the same category.
- Repertoire requirements (all must be memorized): 1. An aria from an opera; 2. An aria from an oratorio, mass, requiem, or cantata in the original language; 3. One foreign language art song; 4. One 20lh Century American art song composed between 1908-1980; 5. One 20th – 21st Century American art song composed between 1980 – 2020 (date of composition, not publication) No arrangements allowed. Announce title & composer. Contestants are known only by number to the judges.
- Contestants chosen for the finals will sing a selection of their choice and one American art song. Judges will take into consideration the difficulty and sophistication of the American song, so consult your teacher/coach.
- CMM reserves the right not to award a prize in a category on recommendation of the judges.
- Complete application online, with a link to an anonymous video, and submit payment of $25 via PayPal. Registration, payment and video must be submitted at the same time. There will be no refunds for submissions cancelled after the due date of November 1st. Questions? Email: jshults1@twcny.rr.com
Vocal Competition Committee:
Janet Brown, Phil Eisenman, Laura Enslin, Rebecca Karpoff, Eric Johnson, Jean Loftus, Donna Miller, Neva Pilgrim, Gayle Ross, David Rudari, James Shults, Patti Thompson