Youth vocal competition seeks new talent

The New Orleans Opera Association announced last week the creation of an annual youth vocal competition for all Louisiana high school students.

The competition is open to students in their sophomore, junior or senior year enrolled in a Louisiana high school.

The competition is a collaborative effort with Loyola University’s College of Music and Fine Arts and Preparatory Program, Newcomb Department of Music at Tulane University, and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). The competition will be held yearly, moving back and forth between the venues of Loyola, NOCCA, and Tulane.

The Opera Association expects the competition to greatly benefit Louisiana’s young vocal students and “promote artistic excellence, provide financial support to young vocalists, and encourage young local singers throughout the entire State of Louisiana,” according to their press release.

At the competition, the finalists will be asked to sing three songs from standard classical literature where one selection is either in Italian, French, or German and one selection is in English. (However, one selection may be from a musical.) A master class is planned as well and judges will give vocal insights and encouragement to the finalists on the day of the competition.

Judging of the completion will be handled by professionals in the field of opera and will focus on “quality of voice, musicality, technical skill, diction, interpretation, and presentation.” Only 35 students will be chosen to participate, and ten will receive an award as finalists.

One male and one female vocalist will be awarded first place and each receive a prize of $1,000. Second place winners (one male and one female) will each receive an prize of $500.

The deadline for submission is September 4, and the youth vocal competition date is set for Saturday, October 17, in Roussel Hall at Loyola.

The competition is free and open to the public. NOOA says that application information will be made available on their website at www.neworleansopera.org.

This article originally published in the May 18, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.