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RECENT OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC GRADUATE WINS METROPOLITAN OPERA NATIONAL COUNCIL AUDITIONS
Soprano Alyson Cambridge is the second Oberlin Graduate in the Past Two Years to Win
APRIL 11, 2003--Soprano Alyson Cambridge, a 2002 graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, has won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for 2003, held Sunday, April 6, during a Grand Finals Concert at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York. A native of Arlington, Virginia, Cambridge, 23, is the youngest singer to win this year. She is also the second Oberlin alumna in a row to win.
Last year soprano Carolyn Betty ’99 was one of the top four singers in the Metropolitan Opera Nationals. Cambridge and Betty were both students of Oberlin Professor of Singing Daune Mahy.
Four winners were chosen from nine finalists this year, who in turn were selected from more than 2,000 singers who auditioned at the district and regional levels. Cambridge’s prize is the Metropolitan Opera National Council Award. Each of the four winners will receive $15,000, distributed over the next three years, to further their education and careers.
Classical music critic Bernard Holland of The New York Times says Cambridge "showed the big sound and technical muscle for today’s large-opera-house heroines."
Accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by Julius Rudel, Cambridge sang "Obèissons quand leur voix appelle" from Massenet’s opera Manon
and "Oh! Quante volte" from Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Bass-baritone Samuel Ramey served as master of ceremonies for the event, which also included a special tribute to mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens.
"It was a wonderful honor and pleasure to sing with the Met orchestra under Julius Rudel," says Cambridge, who, along with the other winners, will be featured on the A & E Network’s Breakfast with the Arts, hosted by Elliott Forrest. The two-hour television program, which will include interviews and performances, will air Sunday, April 13, at 8 a.m. EDT.
Cambridge’s odyssey began in earnest in March, when she won the Metropolitan Opera’s Middle Atlantic Regional Auditions, held in Washington, D.C., singing the same arias she performed at the finals. Her Oberlin classmate, Elizabeth (Elly) Dehn ’02, now a student at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, won third place at this preliminary round.
Cambridge is a double-degree graduate of Oberlin, with degrees in sociology and voice. She is now working toward a master’s degree in opera at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she is studying with Marlena Malas.
"The musical academic background at Oberlin prepared me so well for all the things I’m doing now at Curtis," says Cambridge. "And I have Miss Mahy to thank for my success with the Met. Everything she taught me in the past five years has meshed well with all I’m learning now from Marlena Malas."
Media Contact: Marci Janas
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