Thanks to the incredible support of our boards, the assistance of a fantastic group of volunteers and a last minute rescue from a past Utah District winner, the 2007 Utah District Metropolitan Opera National Council (MONC) Auditions were a resounding success.  The Executive Director of the National MONC Auditions, Gayletha Nichols was originally scheduled to be one of our judges, but was asked by The Met the week of the auditions to oversee a special project in San Antonio.  Luckily, one of our wonderful Utah residents with a major career in opera (and a 1999 Utah District MONC Winner), Celena Shafer, was available and willing to fill in for Ms. Nichols.  Our two other judges, Sheri Greenawald, Director of the San Francisco Opera Center and Christopher Larkin, Conductor, made a wonderful team with Ms. Shafer and the three of them selected a top-notch group of singers to perform in the finals on Saturday night.
On Friday, February 2, 2007, thirty-nine singers from five states participated in preliminary auditions for the Utah District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council.  The singers included three mezzo-sopranos, seven tenors, four baritones, and twenty-five sopranos!  Most of the singers were from Utah universities.  Each singer presented an aria of his or her choice followed immediately by an aria selected by the judges from a list of five prepared by the singer.   The judges selected eleven singers to return to sing in the finals on Saturday, February 3rd. 
Following the preliminary auditions, Tom Melton hosted a dinner at his home for donors who gave at the Gold ($250) level or above and special guests including our two judges from out of state.  It was a lovely, elegant yet informal evening filled with wonderful company and conversation.
On Saturday night, each of the eleven finalists sang two arias from his or her list.  After approximately 30 minutes of deliberations, the judges selected three singers to advance to the Rocky Mountain Regional Finals to be held Saturday, February 24th in Denver:

Alisa Thomason, a 29 year-old soprano who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music  from Brigham Young University and is currently earning a Master of Music from the University of Utah (Alisa sang ‘Non, Monsieur, mon mari’ from Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias and ‘Regnava nel silenzio’ from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor); Tyler Oliphant, a 29 year-old baritone and current Utah resident who holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Utah and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan (Tyler sang ‘Hear me, O Lord’ from Carlyle Floyd’s Susannah and The Count’s Aria from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro); and Shannon Kessler, a 27 year-old soprano who holds a Master of Music from New England Conservatory and is currently a  Utah Opera Ensemble Apprentice Artist (Shannon sang ‘No word from Tom’ from Stravinski’s The Rake’s Progress and ‘Depuis le jour’ from Charpeniter’s Louise).  These three singers each received a cash award of $1,000 to aid their travel to the Rocky Mountain Region Auditions in Denver. 
The judges also awarded five encouragement awards of $200 each to five young singers who they felt deserved special recognition: Cecily Ellis (23) and Rhea Miller (22) both sopranos studying at the University of Utah; Brooke Bosler a 22 year-old soprano and Emily Williams a 24 year-old mezzo soprano both studying at Brigham Young University; and Elisabeth Bieber, a 26 year-old mezzo soprano originally from Iowa who is currently singing with Utah Opera’s Ensemble Apprentice Artists.

We continue to make progress toward the goals we’ve set for the first several years of our directorship:  to increase the awareness about and participation in the auditions by local student populations; to bring our organization in-line with the national Metropolitan Opera National Council (MONC) recommendations; and to return a sense of glamour. 
The first goal of the National MONC mission statement is                 ‘To discover exceptional young talent’.  To help make sure we recognize the best talents, we seek to bring the most qualified judges available for the auditions and succeeded this year in engaging three judges who are not only extremely knowledgeable about the business of opera, but who can potentially further the singers’ careers immediately by recommending and/or contracting them for work.  The 2007 judges were Christopher Larkin, a nationally recognized conductor and musical coach; Sheri Greenawald, soprano and Director of the San Francisco Opera Center; and Celena Shafer, soprano and former winner of the Utah District MONC Auditions.  The notoriety of the judges provided the added benefit of ‘buzz’ and excitement on the part of donors and audience members.  We will continue to invite the highest caliber judges.
We strive to not only provide the opportunity to audition for young singers who are ready, but also to observe for singers who need more time for development.  The number of Utah singers auditioning this year increased to twenty-four from fifteen last year and the percentage of singers from Utah increased to 62% from 54% last year.  Students from the University of Utah and Brigham Young University volunteered to assist with the logistics of the auditions and approximately 100 young singers observed the auditions on Friday and Saturday.  In partnership with the University of Utah School of Music, we organized an additional special career advisement session with judge Sheri Greenawald on Saturday afternoon.  Fifty young singers participated in this question and answer session centered on transitioning from academic studies to the professional world of operatic singing. 
We remain in close communication with the National MONC office to garner their advice and ensure the Utah District Auditions favorably represent the organization.
We continue to believe our decision to change venue for the auditions to Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah campus contributes greatly to our goal of returning glamour to the auditions.  The hall is not only provides a beautiful environment, but also a wonderful acoustic and comfortable setting for the singers and audience.  We received compliments from many people who attended the auditions who commented on the wonderful atmosphere and efficient operation.  We are grateful to The University of Utah School of Music, Dr. Robert Breault, Dr. Robert Walzel and Dr. Raymond Tymas-Jones for their help in securing this incredible hall and for their flexibility and support throughout the two days of auditions.
While our audience size increased this year, we do feel there are more people who would be interested in attending.  We are evaluating our notifications and publicity and hope to make significant improvements next year.
We are grateful for all of the help and support provided by our boards and volunteers and look forward to many more years of auditions.