VI Concurso San Miguel 2014

For the sixth time, Ópera de San Miguel held its long-awaited annual singing contest at the Ángela Peralta Theater in San Miguel de Allende, aimed at discovering the most talented young singers in Mexico and supporting their professional aspirations, and not only through the monetary prizes awarded to the winners.

 

During the week prior to the final concert of the contest, all the finalists (and other singers invited as listeners) receive master-classes in music, drama and diction, preparation of arias and advice to start their artistic careers. In this, Concurso San Miguel has distinguished itself from other vocal competitions, which is why it has become one of the most anticipated contests of the year. On this occasion, given the generosity of the private donors who contributed to the San Miguel Opera fund, all the finalists received awards.

 

The jury was made up of John Bills, artistic director of Ópera de San Miguel; John Daly Goodwin, former director of the New York Choral Society and currently director of the Bellas Artes Theater Choir in Mexico City; Joseph McClain, founder and artistic director emeritus of the OSM; bass Charles Oppenheim, editor of Pro Opera magazine; Rogelio Riojas, pianist and main coach of the Bellas Artes Opera Studio; and tenor Michael Sylvester, now a professor of voice at the DePaul University School of Music in Chicago.

 

These were the winners: First prize, $60,000 pesos, Adriana Valdés, soprano; second prize, $30,000 pesos, Carlos López Santillán, baritone; third prize, $20,000 pesos, Lorena Flores, soprano; and fourth prize, $15,000 pesos, Andrés Carrillo, tenor.

 

In addition, six “memorial” prizes and an audience prize were offered: the Ivan Nagy Memorial Prize, $12,500 pesos, for Yamel Domort, soprano; the Herman Marcus Memorial Prize, $12,500 pesos, for Daniel Noyola, bass-baritone (also winner of the audience award); the Edgar Mason Kneedler Memorial Prize, $10,000 pesos, for Octavio Rivas, tenor; the Therese Anne McCarthy Memorial Prize, $10,000 pesos, for Cassandra Zoé Velasco, mezzo-soprano; the José Mojica Memorial Prize, $10,000 pesos, for Juan del Bosco, tenor; and the Youthful Potential Prize, $10,000 pesos, for Sofía Troyo, soprano.

 

Although they did not compete this year, it is worth mentioning the invitados especiales —young talents who will be able to participate in future competitions— who entertained the public with their singing while the jury deliberated: the sopranos Diana Mora and Eimy Sánchez, the countertenor Gamaliel Reynoso and the baritone Jorge Ruvalcaba de la Torre.

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