Finalists Announced for the 2016 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition
POSTED MAY 20, 2016 – NEW YORK, NY – After four days of preliminary auditions this week, finalists to the 2016 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition have been announced. They are:
Megan Barrera | Soprano
Michael Brandenburg | Tenor
Allegra De Vita | Mezzo-Soprano
Liana Guberman | Soprano
Joseph Lattanzi | Baritone
Adam Lau | Bass
Andrew G. Manea | Baritone
Heather Phillips | Soprano
Katherine Polit | Soprano
Abigail Rethwisch | Soprano
Jonathan Rohr | Baritone
Claudia Rosenthal | Soprano
Rachel Schutz | Soprano
Alex Soare | Bass-Baritone
Kyle Van Schoonhoven | Tenor
The Finals of the 2016 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition will be held Saturday, May 21st at 1 PM at Engelman Recital Hall, Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue, New York. The event is free and open to the public, and the winners will be named at the conclusion of the event.
Two hundred forty singers applied to perform in the 2016 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. More than 100 singers were granted auditions, and these fifteen finalists were selected. They will compete for more than $35,000 in prize winnings, including:
• $3,000 for the Munday Encouragement Award winner
• $7,500 for the Third Place Winner
• $10,000 for the Second Place Winner
• $15,000 for the First Place Winner
The Jensen Foundation has assembled a distinguished roster of judges for the 2016 Finals Competition:
Susan Shiplett Ashbaker is the General Director of Tri-Cities Opera and served previously as Director of Artistic and Music Administration with the Opera Company of Philadelphia. Since 2005 she has been Artistic Advisor and a Master Vocal Coach for The CoOPERAtive Program at Westminster Choir College.
Peter Carwell is the Executive Director of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation where he oversees the Foundation’s Auditions and Awards Program, as well as the artistic programming of the Foundation’s annual Richard Tucker Gala, numerous community concerts, and master classes.
James Morris is world famous for his performances in opera, concert, recital, and recording. In the 2015-16 season, Mr. Morris starred at the Metropolitan Opera as Scarpia in Tosca, as Timur in Turandot, and as Lodovico in the new production of Otello. Recent concert performances have included Hans Sachs’s monologues from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and in Rossini’s rarely-heard Moïse et Pharaon in the title role of Moïse with the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall.
About the Fritz & Lavinia Jensen Foundation
Fritz and Lavinia Jensen were lifelong supporters of the arts who benefited many musicians and musical organizations during their lives. The Jensen Foundation is dedicated to continuing their philanthropic vision of support for the musical arts. The centerpiece of the Foundation’s efforts, the annual Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, supports young artists pursuing a career in opera. Since the Competition’s inception in 2000, and including this year’s award winners, 115 singers have received more than $535,000 in support.
