The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music has named the 11 exceptional singing actors who will compete for a top prize of $25,000 in the final round of the 27th annual Lotte Lenya Competition, the internationally renowned theatrical singing contest. The finals are set to take place Saturday, May 3 at 1:00 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall.
Kim Kowalke, President of the Kurt Weill Foundation and Founder of the Competition, said of the finalists: “This year’s 11 finalists are the most diverse and geographically dispersed group in the Competition’s history. And they will be singing a remarkably wide range of repertoire, from Patience to I Puritani, Subways Are for Sleeping to Ernani.”
With its focus on both acting and vocal skills, the Lenya Competition celebrates talented singing actors of all nationalities who can “do it all” across the dynamic landscape of music theater. The 11 finalists emerged from a group of 20 semifinalists who had been previously selected from an initial pool of 260 applicants—30% of whom came from outside the US. The Competition’s semifinal round features a unique judging-coaching format. Semifinalists audition in person in New York City, performing a continuous 15-minute program of four contrasting numbers, including one by Kurt Weill, then receive immediate feedback and coaching from one of the two semifinal judges. This year’s coach-adjudicators were double Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and Broadway and opera leading lady Lisa Vroman. All semifinalists receive a $1250 cash prize.
Ranging in age from 25 to 32, the Finalists in the 2025 Lenya Competition are:
- Tamara Bounazou (Paris, France)
- Crystal Glenn (Yonkers, NY)
- Eastman Alumni Jonathan Heller ’17E (BM) (New York, NY)
- Queen Hezumuryango (Bujumbura, Burundi)
- Elenora Hu (Delft, Netherlands)
- Olivia LaPointe (Fredericton, NB)
- Rebecca Madeira (Howell, NJ)
- Gemma Nha (Sydney, Australia)
- George Robarts (Great Hormead, UK)
- Schyler Vargas (Denver, CO)
- Ian Williams (Indianapolis, IN)
Top Row, L to R: Ian Williams, Gemma Nha, Queen Hezumuryango, Jonathan Heller, and Rebecca Madeira. Bottom Row, L to R: Elenora Hu, Olivia LaPointe, George Robarts, Crystal Glenn, Schyler Vargas, and Tamara Bounazou. Photos by Mike Gerard.
The final round will be judged by three esteemed artists whose careers mirror the values of the Competition: Broadway conductor and music director Rob Berman, multi-hyphenate singer-actor-director-teacher Catherine Malfitano, and stage director Alison Moritz ’12E (MM). Eastman alumna Moritz, recently appointed as the Artistic Director of Central City Opera, was a Hal Prince/Kurt Weill Directing Fellow for the 2016 production of Weill’s Lost in the Stars at Washington National Opera. Another featured Eastman alum is Lyndon Meyer ’10E (MM), who has played as a piano accompanist for the competition since his time as a student.
Final round events will be available for streaming live online and on demand afterwards at www.kwf.org. Contestants compete for top prizes of $25,000, $20,000, and $15,000 as well as discretionary prizes at the $6000 level. For the first time, the Lenya Competition will incorporate an Audience Choice Award. After presenting their competition programs in the afternoon, finalists will perform an additional crowd-pleaser in the evening at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall.. Audience members in the hall and those tuning in to the live stream will both be able to vote for their favorite. The artist receiving the most votes will be awarded a prize of $3000.
Media only:
Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Brady Sansone, bsansone@kwf.org
Eastman School of Music, Lauren Sageer, (585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About the Lotte Lenya Competition:
More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of “total-package talents” (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. In awarding more than $1.6 million in prize money since the Competition began, the Kurt Weill Foundation has celebrated the talent and supported the careers of hundreds of singing actors worldwide.
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.