The Richard Tucker Music Foundation, founded in 1975, was created in honor of American opera singer Richard Tucker. The foundation is best known for awarding the annual Richard Tucker award, given to a young opera singer "on the threshold of a major international career," and for hosting the associated annual gala and concert.
The Sara Tucker Study Grant awards US$5,000 unrestricted grants to singers under the age of 27 who are selected through a vocal competition. Applicants must be recent graduates from a university or music conservatory and should be making the transition from student to professional singer. A candidate should have recently completed a graduate degree program or work in a young artist or Apprentice program at a regional company. Notable winners of this award include: Michael Maniaci (2002), Sarah Coburn (2004), and Lisette Oropesa (2007). [1]
The Richard Tucker Career Grant awards US$10,000 unrestricted grants to singers, selected through a vocal competition, who have begun professional careers and who have already performed roles with opera companies nationally or internationally. A Career Grant candidate must be 36 years old or younger and should have a fair amount of performing experience in professional companies. Notable winners of this award include: June Anderson, Brian Asawa, Harolyn Blackwell, Stephanie Blythe, Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Nathan Gunn, Jerry Hadley, John Keyes, Chris Merritt, Stephanie Novacek, and Chad Shelton. [2]
The Richard Tucker Award is awarded to a single performer who has "reached a high level of artistic accomplishment and who, in the opinion of a conferral panel, is on the threshold of a major international career". The Richard Tucker Award, which includes a $50,000 cash prize, is selected by committee and not audition. The operative guideline for the Richard Tucker Award is that it be awarded to "an American singer poised on the edge of a major national and international career, and it is hoped that the award acts as a well-timed catalyst to elevate the artist's career to even greater heights." [3]
The Richard Tucker Music Foundation also offers programs such as master classes and concerts in a variety of community settings which provide performance opportunities for award winners and enrich the cultural life of the communities in which they take place. These concerts are frequently broadcast on the radio. [4]
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.
Stephanie Blythe is an American mezzo-soprano who has had an active international career in operas and concerts since the early 1990s. She is particularly associated with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with whom she has performed annually since her debut with the company in 1995. In 2014 she starred as Gertrude Stein in the world premiere of 27, an opera composed by Ricky Ian Gordon with libretto by Royce Vavrek, and commissioned for her by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
The Wolf Trap Opera Company was founded in 1971 as part of the program of the Wolf Trap Foundation located near the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Fairfax County, Virginia. The company is a residency and training program for aspiring opera professionals, with its major production being a summer opera festival.
MasterVoices is a symphonic choir based in New York City, USA. It was founded in 1941 by Robert Shaw, who was later to found the professional Robert Shaw Chorale. MasterVoices continues to give several performances annually in Carnegie Hall, New York City Center, Lincoln Center and other venues. The group performed at the opening of the United Nations and has sung and recorded with such conductors as Serge Koussevitzky, Arturo Toscanini and Leonard Bernstein. The organization's artistic director is Ted Sperling.
The Shoshana Foundation is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1986 upon the death of Richard F. Gold who was a long time administrator at both the New York City Opera and Chamber Opera Theater of New York. The foundation's work focuses on assisting promising opera singers at the start of their careers by providing The Richard F. Gold Career Grant to young singers nominated by their music school and opera apprenticeship program. Music schools currently involved in the scholarship program include the Juilliard School Opera Center, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Mannes College of Music among others. Opera apprenticeship programs include the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company. Winners are asked to give at least one charity performance in the year following their award, the expenses of which are met by the foundation.
United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards.
Metropolitan Opera Live in HD is a series of live opera performances transmitted in high-definition video via satellite from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to select venues, primarily movie theaters, in the United States and other parts of the world. The first transmission was of a condensed English-language version of Mozart's The Magic Flute on December 30, 2006. Many of the video recordings are later rebroadcast via public television as part of the Great Performances at the Met series, and most are made available for streaming at Met Opera on Demand, a collection which also includes earlier SD video telecasts and audio recordings from Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.
Christine Goerke is an American dramatic soprano.
Gail Robinson was an American operatic soprano who sang with many of the world's leading opera companies during the 1970s and 1980s. She spent most of her career singing lyric coloratura roles at the Metropolitan Opera. After her performance career ended she taught singing to young artists and also directed the Metropolitan Opera's Young Artist Program for over ten years. Upon leaving the Met, she joined the voice faculty at the University of Kentucky.
Lisette Oropesa is an American operatic soprano of Cuban ancestry. Her repertoire includes works from Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Wagner, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet, Bellini and Puccini. With her lyric coloratura soprano voice, she has performed roles in her native Spanish and English, as well as German, French and Italian. She is particularly noted in the roles of Susanna, Gilda, Konstanze, Lucia and Manon.
Stephanie Novacek is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who has appeared at many of the world's opera houses. A regular performer at the Houston Grand Opera and Opera Atelier, Novacek is especially known for her performances in contemporary operas and in obscure operas, particularly baroque works, outside of the standard repertory. Opera News has described her voice as a "rich, seamless flow of solid silk" and an actress "with always a strong presence on stage".
Louisiana State University School of Music is a music school located on the northwestern side of the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The school is part of LSU's College of Music & Dramatic Arts, which also includes the LSU School of Theater. The college includes over 100 faculty and staff, over 600 majors, and offers wide range of degrees and curricular concentrations.
Nadine Sierra is an American soprano. She is best 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.
Michael Fabiano is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Canadian Opera Company, The Royal Opera, and Teatro Real de Madrid among many others. Fabiano is the 2014 Richard Tucker Award winner and the 2014 Beverly Sills Artist Award winner, making him the first singer to win both awards in the same year.
James Valenti is an American operatic tenor with an active international career specializing in leading roles in the Italian and French repertoire. Born and raised in New Jersey, in the United States, he attended St. Helena School and North Hunterdon High School before becoming a graduate of West Virginia University and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Valenti also holds a Master of Voice Pedagogy degree from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Valenti made his professional debut in 2003 as Rodolfo in La bohème at the Rome Opera, and was the 2010 winner of the Richard Tucker Award.
Angela Meade is an American operatic soprano.
Ailyn Pérez is an American operatic soprano known for her interpretation of Violetta, Mimì and Thaïs. She is a 2019 Opera News Awards Honoree, and the winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award. In 2016, she received the $50,000 Beverly Sills Award and the 2017 Sphinx Medal of Excellence from the Sphinx Organization.
Washington Concert Opera is a professional opera company located in Washington, D.C. in the United States which presents operas in a concert format with full orchestra and chorus. WCO's distinctive repertoire consists of operas which either have not been presented recently in the Washington area, or are infrequently performed anywhere, or which represent opportunities to showcase artists.
Ken Noda is an American concert pianist, accompanist, vocal coach, and composer. He began composing music and performing as a concert pianist before the age of 11. He has performed with symphony orchestras throughout the world, and has composed numerous art songs and five operas. He worked as a vocal coach at the Metropolitan Opera from 1991 until retiring from his full time position in July 2019.
Ryan Speedo Green is an American bass-baritone opera singer.