(Left to Right) Adjudicator, Kim Pensinger Witman, Sr. Director, Wolf Trap Opera, Keely Futterer, Soprano, 1st place
Emily Helenbrook, Soprano, 2nd place, Alan Cline, Baritone, 3rd place, Emily Siar, Soprano, Honorable mention
The Eastman School of Music is proud to announce the winners of the 2016 Friends of Eastman Opera Voice Competition, which took place in Kilbourn Hall on Friday, February 12.
The first prize went to Keely Futterer, soprano, who performed “Rusalka’s Song to the Moon” from Dvorak’s Rusalka and Mozart’s “Martern aller Arten” from Die Entführung aus dem Serail. She received the Lynne Clarke Vocal Prize in the amount of $1,500, donated by John Clarke in honor of his late wife, a founding member of the Friends of Eastman Opera.
Ms. Futterer is in her second year of doctoral work at Eastman. She has performed Elle in La voix humaine, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. Recently, she was seen as Carmela in Mese mariano and the title role in Suor Angelica. This April, Keely will perform Countess Almaviva in Eastman Opera Theatre’s Le nozze di Figaro. This summer she is returning to Opera Saratoga, covering Mathilde Neruda in Il postino and performing The Witch Mother in the American premiere of Glass’s The Witches of Venice.
Emily Helenbrook, who performed works by Mozart and Massenet, received the second place award, the Annabel Muenter Vocal Prize of $1,000, donated in memory of Ms. Muenter, a long-time member of the Friends of Eastman Opera who chaired the voice competition for many years. Third prize of $750 went to baritone Alan Cline, who performed arias by Gounod and Mozart. Emily Siar, soprano, received an Honorable Mention for her performances of arias by Weber and Gluck. The adjudicator for the competition was Kim Pensinger Witman, Senior Director of the Wolf Trap Opera Company.
The Friends of Eastman Opera is comprised of a group of vibrant opera lovers that has lent its support to Eastman Opera Theatre in numerous ways. FEO is a very visible presence at Eastman School of Music events and is a passionate “fan club” that spreads the word throughout the Rochester community about opera in general and Eastman Opera Theatre in particular.
# # #