The Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air was an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera of New York City for more than two decades. The competition's purpose was to find, encourage, and promote developing young opera singers with promising future careers. Winners of the competition were given a cash prize and the opportunity to perform opera selections on the radio with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. [1]
Established in 1935 by newly appointed Met director Edward Johnson, the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air was broadcast live on NBC Radio. Given the number of contestants, the competition was heard through a series of broadcasts that spanned several weeks. Concerned that the competition was becoming merely a tool for promoting singers in New York City, the Met created the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1954 as a means of finding and bringing in talented young opera singers from all across the United States. At this point the competition was sometimes referred to as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions of the Air. The first two winners of the competition were the tenor Arthur Carron and the contralto Ana Kaskas , both of which became resident artists at the Met soon after. [2] The competition ceased to operate in 1958, but the Met continues to operate the National Council Auditions. [1]
The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as the general manager. The company's music director has been Yannick Nézet-Séguin since 2018.
Shirley Verrett was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles making her a Soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s; she was particularly well known for singing the works of Giuseppe Verdi and Gaetano Donizetti.
Rosa Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle was an American operatic dramatic soprano.
Kirsten Malfrid Flagstad was a Norwegian opera singer, who was the outstanding Wagnerian soprano of her era. Her triumphant debut in New York on 2 February 1935 is one of the legends of opera. Giulio Gatti-Casazza, the longstanding General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera said, “I have given America two great gifts — Caruso and Flagstad.”
Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre circuit. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993.
Richard Tucker was an American operatic tenor and cantor. Long associated with the Metropolitan Opera, Tucker's career was primarily centered in the United States.
Othalie Graham is a Canadian and American dramatic soprano, known for operatic roles such as Turandot in Turandot, Tosca in Tosca, Minnie in La fanciulla del West, Aida in Aida, Elektra in Elektra and Ariadne in Ariadne Auf Naxos.
Ashley Putnam is an American soprano from New York City. Her professional singing career began in 1976 and has spanned over 30 years.
The Richard Tucker Music Foundation, founded in 1975, carries the name of Richard Tucker. The foundation is a "non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great American tenor through the support and advancement of the careers of talented American opera singers by bringing opera into the community. The Foundation seeks to heighten appreciation for opera by offering free performances in the New York metropolitan area and by supporting music education enrichment programs."
Marilyn Cotlow is an American lyric coloratura soprano best remembered for creating the role of Lucy in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone in both the original Broadway and West End productions. She sang professionally during the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Europe, performing with such companies as the Metropolitan Opera, Theater Bremen, Theater Basel, and the Wexford Festival Opera. After 1957, Cotlow mainly retired from performance to devote time to teaching voice and being a mother; although she continued to perform periodically in recitals, on the stage, and on disc up into the 1990s. She has taught vocal music on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory, the University of Michigan, and Catholic University of America in addition to teaching privately from her home in Northern Virginia. Several of her students have had successful careers, including Alessandra Marc and Jennifer Wilson.
The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are a regular series of weekly broadcasts on network radio of full-length opera performances. They are transmitted live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network airs the live performances on Saturday afternoons while the Met is in season, typically beginning the first Saturday in December, and totaling just over 20 weekly performances through early May. The Met broadcasts are the longest-running continuous classical music program in radio history, and the series has won several Peabody Awards for excellence in broadcasting.
Angel Joy Blue is an American soprano. She won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for the Metropolitan Opera production of Porgy and Bess in the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Her voice has been recognized for its shining and agile upper register, "smoky" middle register, beautiful timbre, and ability to switch from a classical to a contemporary sound. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards including a Grammy Award, Operalia and Miss Hollywood. According to family lore, her father Sylvester predicted her to be "the next Leontyne Price" when she was born.
Margaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1950. She sang a total of 39 roles in 25 works at the Met and was heard in 40 of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. She was also active as a guest artist with major opera houses in Europe and North and South America.
Nadine Sierra is an American soprano. She is most well known for her interpretation of Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, and Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Currently performing in leading roles in the top opera houses around the world, she received the 1st Prize and People's Choice Award 2013 at the Neue Stimmen competition, is the 2017 Richard Tucker Music Foundation Award Winner, and was awarded the Beverly Sills Artists Award in 2018. Her debut album on the Universal Music Group label, There's a Place for Us, was released on August 24, 2018.
Robert Mosley was an American operatic bass-baritone. Part of the first generation of African-American opera singers to achieve wide success, he performed in numerous opera productions, recitals, and in concerts from the 1950s through the 1990s. In 1957 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He drew particular acclaim for his portrayal of Porgy in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, a role which he portrayed in the landmark 1976 Houston Grand Opera production, on Broadway, and at the Metropolitan Opera among other opera companies both in the United States and in Europe.
Jennifer Johnson Cano is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Before her college education, she attended St. Pius X High School, graduating in the Class of 2002. While in high school, she was a member of the choir, singing at Mass and state competitions. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Webster University and a Master of Music degree from Rice University where she was a pupil of Kathleen Kaun. In 2008, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and in 2009, she won the Young Concert Artists competition and was the recipient of a Sullivan Foundation grant. She was a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild was established in 1935 to broaden the base of support for the Metropolitan Opera, promote greater interest in opera, and develop future audiences by reaching out to a wide public and serving as an educational resource that provides programs, publications, materials and services to schools, families, individuals, and community groups nationwide.
Ginger Costa-Jackson is an Italian-American operatic mezzo-soprano who performs often with the Metropolitan Opera since entering its Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2007. The Met: Live in HD global broadcasts feature her frequently, as do other major theaters and concert venues worldwide. Costa-Jackson has performed in her native Italian as well as English, French, and Spanish; she speaks these languages fluently, along with limited German. While her signature role is Carmen, Costa-Jackson also performs comic roles, as in her Marchesa di Poggio, and also her 2009 Celia in Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe with the San Francisco Symphony.
Ryan Speedo Green is an American bass-baritone opera singer.
Lansing Hatfield was an American bass-baritone and radio personality who had an active performance career in operas, operettas, musicals, and concerts from mid 1930s until the late 1940s. He is best remembered for his frequent performances on American radio during the late 1930s and early 1940s, and two roles he created on Broadway: Daniel Webster in Douglas Moore's 1939 opera The Devil and Daniel Webster at the Martin Beck Theatre, and Reverend Alfred Davidson in Vernon Duke and Howard Dietz's 1944 musical Sadie Thompson at the Alvin Theatre. In 1941 he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air, and was a resident artist at the Met from 1941 to 1944.
