Young Vocalists Competition

2018 Young Vocalists Competition

Competition Dates:  High School Division – Wednesday, March 14, 6 pm

College Division – Saturday, March 17, 10 am

Winners Concert: Sunday, April 15, 3 pm

All events take place in Light Fine Arts Building, Kalamazoo College

COMPETITION:  The most promising college and high school vocal music performance students from the Midwest area will compete in the 2018 Kalamazoo Bach Festival Young Vocalists Competition this month.  The purpose of the Young Vocalists Competition is to encourage the study and performance of vocal music.  High school vocalists will compete on Wednesday evening, March 14, at 6:00 pm, and college vocalists will compete on Saturday, March 17, beginning at 10:00 am, both at Kalamazoo College’s Light Fine Arts Building Recital Hall. The competitions are free and open to the public.

Entrants in the College Division are required to sing one 20th or 21st century art song by an American, British, or Canadian composer sung in English, one foreign language art song sung in the original language, and an aria from opera, oratorio, or cantata sung in the original language or musical theatre selection.  Entrants in the High School Division will sing a musical theatre selection or a 20th or 21st century art song by an American, British, or Canadian composer sung in English, and one foreign language art song or an aria sung in the original language.

Entrants in the High School Division are from Battle Creek, Clio, East Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Portage, and Ypsilanti, Michigan, and Fostoria, Ohio.  College Division entrants are from DePauw University, Grand Valley State University, Indiana University Southeast, Kalamazoo College, University of Michigan, University of Michigan Flint, and Western Michigan University.

JUDGES:  Judges for the College Division competition are Dr. Timothy Cheek, and Deborah Mayer.  They will choose first, second and third place winners as well as honorable mentions.    Deborah Mayer, Voice Faculty at Notre Dame University, made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2013 as Gerhilde in Die Walküre and with the Boston Symphony (Tanglewood Music Festival). Concert performances are many and include Verdi’s Messa di Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder.  Vocal coach and pianist Timothy Cheek is Associate Professor of Performing Arts/Vocal Arts at the University of Michigan School of Music where is also serves as music director of Opera Workshop, instructor of lyric diction classes, and as coach for opera productions.

 Judging the High School Division will be Dr. Chris Ludwa.  He will choose up to three winners in that division.  In addition to directing the Bach Festival Chorus and Kalamazoo College vocal ensembles, he is Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Bay View Music Festival near Petoskey, Michigan, where he leads a 100-voice festival choir, collegiate chamber choir, orchestra, and musical theatre productions.

YOUNG VOCALISTS WINNERS CONCERT:  The winning students will be showcased in the Young Vocalists Winners Concert on Sunday, April 15, at 3 pm at Kalamazoo College in the Light Fine Arts Building Recital Hall.   They will receive their cash prizes at the free recital and a reception to meet the vocalists will follow.