Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Winners 2013 Announced

The Metropolitan Opera named 6 young singers as winners of the National Council Auditions on March 10^th.

This year's winners were: Michael Brandenburg, a  26-year-old tenor from Austin, IN; Brandon Cedel, a 25-year-old bass-baritone from Hershey, PA; Sydney Mancasola, a 25-year-old soprano from Redding, CA; Musa Ngqungwana, a 28-year-old bass-baritone from Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Rebecca Pedersen, a 21-year-old soprano from Bountiful, UT; and Thomas Richards, a 24-year-old bass-baritone from Burnsville, MN.

The winners were selected from ten finalists who performed arias on the Met stage with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, conducted by Marco Armiliato. The winners received a cash prize of $15,000, and performed in front of an audience that included artistic directors of leading opera companies, artist managers, established opera stars, important teachers and coaches, music critics, and others who can play an influential role in the careers of young singers.

The ceremony was hosted by soprano and 1995 National Council Audition winner Sondra Radvanosvky. During the festivities the soprano sang the aria "Pace Pace mio dio" from "Verdi's La Forza del Destino"

The concert was recorded for broadcast at a later date on public radio stations across the United States. On Monday, March 11^th, at 7 p.m., this year's newly selected winners will perform a concert of varied operatic repertory at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WQXR, New York City's all-classical station. They will be joined by a Met star and former National Council winner, bass-baritone Eric Owens.

The National Council Auditions have helped jumpstart the careers of many of today's great Opera Singers including Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Thomas Hampson, Nathan Gunn, Dolora Zajick, Sondra Radvanovsky, Samuel Ramey and most recently Angela Meade.  In 2007, the National Council Audition process was captured in an acclaimed documentary, The Audition by director Susan Fromeke and was later released on DVD and broadcast on PBS.