New York, NY (March 1, 2020) – After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five singers as the winners of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $20,000 cash prize—up from $15,000, the first increase since 1998—and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera’s biggest stars.
The 2020 winners, the regions they represent in the competition, and their hometowns are:
- Gabrielle Beteag, 25, mezzo-soprano (Southeast Region: Lilburn, GA)
- Blake Denson, 24, baritone (Midwest Region: Paducah, KY)
- Jonah Hoskins, 23, tenor (Rocky Mountain Region: Saratoga Springs, UT)
- Alexandria Shiner, 29, soprano (Middle Atlantic Region: Waterford, MI)
- Denis Vélez, 27, soprano (Gulf Coast Region: Puebla, Mexico)
Earlier this afternoon, nine finalists performed on the Met stage in the final phase of the competition, hosted by soprano Lisette Oropesa, a 2005 National Council winner. Each finalist sang two arias with the Met Orchestra, led by Bertrand de Billy, followed by a guest performance by tenor Javier Camarena while the judges deliberated. The audience for the Grand Finals Concert, which was open to the public, included artistic directors of leading opera companies, artist managers, important teachers and coaches, music critics, and many other industry professionals with the potential to play an influential role in the career of a young singer. The concert was also streamed live on the Met’s website and heard live on satellite radio.
The remaining four finalists, who each receive a $10,000 cash prize (up from $7,500), are:
- Lindsay Kate Brown, 28, mezzo-soprano (Upper Midwest Region: Waterloo, NY)
- Chasiti Lashay, 27, soprano (Western Region: Houston, TX)
- Jana McIntyre, 28, soprano (Midwest Region: Santa Barbara, CA)
- Xiaomeng Zhang, 29, baritone (New England Region: Wenzhou, China)
For the first time since 1998, the cash prizes increased to $20,000 for the winners and $10,000 for the remaining finalists to further their careers. Lisette Oropesa generously donated $25,000 this year to inspire a permanent increase in the award amounts, with many existing donors committing to join the effort. The National Council has named her its National Advisor in recognition of this gift.
This year’s finalists were chosen from more than 1,000 singers who participated in auditions held in 40 districts throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, and who then competed in the 12 regional finals. These auditions are sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera National Council and administered by National Council members and hundreds of volunteers from across the country.
The Met National Council Auditions, now in their 66th year, have been crucial in introducing many of today’s best-known stars, such as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt, Thomas Hampson, Stephanie Blythe, Sondra Radvanovsky, Lawrence Brownlee, Eric Owens, Angela Meade, Lisette Oropesa, Susanna Phillips, Michael Fabiano, Latonia Moore, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Nadine Sierra, Jamie Barton, and Ryan Speedo Green. The competition gained international attention with the release of the 2008 feature-length documentary The Audition, directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke.
Biographies of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Winners
In 2020, Gabrielle Beteag will be featured as the alto soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Michael O’Neal Singers and as Ursule in Atlanta Concert Opera’s production of Béatrice et Bénédict. In 2019, she was a young artist at Chautauqua Opera, where she was performed with the touring outreach program as Aunt Bartolo in The Barber of Seville in California and on the mainstage as Woman in a Hat / Duchess in The Ghosts of Versailles. She earned her master’s degree from Georgia State University (GSU) in 2018. While at GSU, she appeared as Katisha in The Mikado, Lady Billows in Albert Herring, and Charlotte Malcolm in A Little Night Music. Her repertoire also includes the Secretary in The Consul, Madame de Croissy in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe.
Blake Denson is a second-year master’s student at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. While at Rice, he has appeared as Elder McLean in Susannah and Mercurio in La Calisto. He has also worked with Wolf Trap Opera, where he covered Kaiser Overall in Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Pierrot in L’Île de Merlin. He joins the Houston Grand Opera Studio during the 2020–21 season, and he will also return to Wolf Trap Opera for a second season, singing the Captain in Eugene Onegin and covering the opera’s title character. He will also cover the role of Marcello in La Bohème. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky School Of Music.
Jonah Hoskins’s past roles include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Septimius in Theodora, and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at Brigham Young University (BYU) and Benvolio in Roméo et Juliette at Utah Opera. Last summer, he was a young artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, where he study-covered the title role of Candide. He will return again this year to cover the title role of Platée and sing the master of ceremonies in The Queen of Spades. Previously, he was a young artist at Ohio Light Opera and attended Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy program. He received the Extraordinary Artistic Promise Award at the 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition. He is currently studying vocal performance at BYU and will graduate this spring with his bachelor’s degree.
During the 2019–20 season, Alexandria Shiner returned to Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, where she sang the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte and Magda Sorel in The Consul. Additional season highlights include a return the Glimmerglass Festival as Ada in Die Feen, Verdi’s Requiem with the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the National Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s Victoria Symphony, and Oregon Symphony. She has appeared as Kayla in the world premiere of Kamala Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents, Mirra in the North American premiere of Liszt’s lost opera Sardanapalo, the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos at Wolf Trap Opera, the title role of Alcina in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performance at Washington National Opera, the Celestial Voice in Don Carlo and Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Washington National Opera, and Berta at the Glimmerglass Festival.
Later this year, Denis Vélez will be joining artist Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center as a young artist. Since 2018, she has been a member of Mexico’s National Opera Chorus at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. She has participated in master classes with Mexican tenors Francisco Araiza and Ramón Vargas, American tenors Joseph McClain and Michael Silvester, and Polish soprano Ewa Izykowska-Klosiewicz. Her repertoire includes the Countess and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Bastienne in Bastien und Bastienne, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, and Mimì in La Bohème. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Mexico’s Superior School of Music.
