WINNERS, 2016: men in opera

The American Prize is honored to announce the winners and runners-up of The American Prize in Vocal Performance (men in opera and operetta), 2016—The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award, in professional, and college/university divisions. Congratulations!

Complete listings of finalists and semi-finalists in The American Prize competitions may be found elsewhere on this blog. Please use the chronological tool in the right-hand column to find specific results.

Please make us aware of any misprints: theamericanprize@gmail.com

The American Prize in Vocal Performance—Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award honors the memory of the greatest Wagnerian baritone of his age, Friedrich Schorr, who commanded the operatic stage between the world wars, and his wife, Virginia Schorr, who taught studio voice at the Manhattan School of Music and the Hartt School of Music for nearly fifty years. The Prize recognizes and rewards the best performances by classically trained vocalists in America in 2016, based on submitted recordings.

The American Prize in Vocal Performance (men in opera and operetta), 2016
The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award
(professional division)

The American Prize winner:
KEITH BROWN

Interlochen MI 

KEITH BROWN

Praised by Opera News for his “warm" baritone, KEITH BROWN is quickly making a name for himself as an exciting artist-to-watch on stages throughout the United States and abroad.  His upcoming engagements include Ping in Turandot with Virginia Opera and the Duke of Verona in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Carolina, and Virginia Opera.  Other highlights from recent seasons include Colline in La bohème (Virginia Opera; Opera on the Avalon), Myles Brodrib in Hanson’s Merry Mount (Carnegie Hall), Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Circle), Zuniga in Carmen (Finger Lakes Opera), the Émir in Verdi’s Jérusalem (Sarasota Opera), and First Soldier in Salome, Grenville in La traviata, and Bob Becket in HMS Pinafore (Virginia Opera).  Currently based in Interlochen, MI, he holds degrees in voice from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory, where his teachers were William McGraw and Kenneth Shaw."


2nd PLACE:
EVAN BRAVOS
Chicago IL

EVAN BRAVOS

Chicago native, Evan Bravos was marked as “a young talent to watch” (Chicago Tribune). A 2015-2016 Emerging Artist of Virginia Opera, he covered the roles of Paris/Gregorio (Roméo et Juliette). Other notable performances include Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), at Central City Opera, Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) with Lyric Opera of Chicago's Outreach, Martin (Candide) at the Aspen Music Festival and Tom Joad (The Grapes of Wrath) with Northwestern University Opera Theater. Concert works: Macmillan: St. John Passion, Orff: Carmina Burana, Copland: Old American Songs, Brahms: Requiem, Faure: Requiem and Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel. Symphony credits: Colorado, Madison, Lake Geneva, Elmhurst and Elgin Symphonies. Upcoming concert engagements include Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs (Wilmington, DE) and Faure: Requiem with the Colorado Symphony Chorus (Paris, Strasbourg, Munich). Awards include the Apprentice Artist Award at Central City Opera and the Encouragement Award in the 2014 Metropolitan National Council Auditions. www.evanbravos.com


3rd PLACE:
ANDREW WANNINGMAN
Norman OK

ANDREW WANNINGMAN

Currently a DMA student at the University of Oklahoma, Mr. Wannigman has performed with a number opera companies throughout the United States: Des Moines Metro Opera, Central City Opera, Opera New Jersey, Opera North, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre, American Lyric Theater, Mill City Summer Opera and Boston Opera Collaborative.  During the 2015-16 season, he performs the baritone role in The Wound-Dresser by John Adams, the Father in Ragtime and the title role in Eugene Onegin at OU, the baritone solos for Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs at Westminster Presbyterian Church, and with Tulsa Opera as Alvaro in Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas as well as Gandolf in The Hobbit with Tulsa Youth Opera.


The American Prize in Vocal Performance (men in opera and operetta), 2016
The Friedrich and Virginia Schorr Memorial Award
(college/university division)

The American Prize winner:
QUINN BERNEGGER
Essex Junction VT

QUINN BERNEGGER

Quinn Bernegger will be appearing this season as Oronte in Handel’s Alcina at The Boston Conservatory, where he is pursuing a graduate diploma in opera performance. He was seen most recently as Nanki-Poo in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado this summer at Chautauqua Opera, where he was also featured as an Apprentice Artist in concerts with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Last year he made his professional debut as a Resident Artist with Tri-Cities Opera, singing roles in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (Beadle Bamford), Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti (the Jazz Trio), and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta (Alméric). Equally at home in musical theater repertoire, Mr. Bernegger has also performed the roles of Jack and Cinderella's Prince in Sondheim's Into the Woods and Jean Valjean in Schönberg's Les Misèrables. He has been a Young Artist at both the Opera Company of Middlebury and the Seagle Music Colony, where he made his operatic debut as Fenton in Verdi's Falstaff. Mr. Bernegger has also enjoyed performing oratorio and concert work with the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival and the Voices of Cooperstown. He is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont and has received numerous honors, including selection as a finalist for the FAVA Grand Concours competition.


2nd PLACE:
BRAYTON ARVIN
Bloomington IN

BRAYTON ARVIN

Baritone Brayton Arvin is in his post-graduate studies at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he earned his Master of Music. Operatic roles have included Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, David in L’amico Fritz, Le Balli in Werther, Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, Maximilian in Candide, Notary/Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi, Le Dancaïre in Carmen, and Jack Scott in the premiere of The King in Yellow. He has been a young artist with Cedar Rapids Opera, Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, and Ash Lawn Opera. As a concert artist, Arvin has been a soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Duruflé’s Messe cum Jubilo, and dozens of premieres of vocal-orchestral and chamber music. Later this year, he will be a soloist in John Stainer’s The Crucifixion and perform the role of Andrew Carnes in IU Opera’s production of Oklahoma! Arvin is a student of Heidi Grant Murphy. wix.com/braytonarvin


3rd PLACE:
FRANK DANIEL LAUCERICA
Miami FL

FRANK DANIEL LAUCERICA

Cuban-American tenor, Frank Daniel Laucerica is completing a bachelor's degree in music for Voice & Opera Performance at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music under Kurt R. Hansen.

Laucerica appeared recently as Don Curzio in Northwestern University Opera Theater's production of Le Nozze di Figaro. Previously, he played Mayor Upfold (and the cover of Albert) in the Miami Summer Music Festival's production of Albert Herring. Laucerica was also seen playing the Younger brother in Northwestern University Opera Theater’s critically acclaimed and award-winning Chicago premiere of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking.

Laucerica is very excited to be playing the role of Elder Hayes and covering Little Bat with Northwestern University’s production of Susannah, covering Albert as part of the Chicago Summer Opera’s production of Albert Herring, as well playing the role of Tamino at the Miami Summer Music Festival’s production of Die Zauberflöte in the coming months.

http://www.franklaucericatenor.com/


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Congratulations!