For Kathryn Leemhuis, Jung Nan Yoon and Jing Zhang, all masters students in vocal performance, winning a competition such as the Indiana District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions marks a culmination of years studying musical technique and theory, acting and languages. All three singers were also veterans of many past performances, apprenticeships and previous contest auditions. After winning the Jan. 5 district auditions, the three women will progress to the Tri-State Regional Auditions this Saturday at the University of Kentucky. \n“You cannot prepare the day before or the week before,” Zhang said. “This takes a lot of preparation; I would say a lifelong preparation. It’s like cooking something, like stewing something. It has to be slow heat; it takes a lot of time to resolve the music in your muscles and in your memory.” \nIn addition to theoretical studies, each student must practice vocal technique daily, and the process of selecting arias to serve as try-out pieces begins at least six months before a competition. \n“We spend a great deal of time singing through repertoires, different arias, to see what really fits the voice,” said Costanza Cuccaro, IU vocal instructor for all three winners. “After awhile, you find what fits well on the voice, and then we go with that.” \nThe annual Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions require sopranos like IU’s winners to prepare a package of five arias and perform them on stage for a panel of three judges, who represent the Metropolitan Opera and other nationally renowned opera programs. Of the 23 singers who auditioned, only the three IU students were declared district finalists. \n“The purpose of the competition is to discover young talent and to provide a venue for young opera singers from all over the country and different levels of experience to be heard by the Metropolitan Opera,” said Maria Levy, the executive administrator for the IU opera/ballet theater and coordinator of the event. \nCuccaro said winning this contest opens many doors to a young singer. “You can get great financial awards, you can get agents out of it, you can get wonderful offers to actually sing professionally ... A Metropolitan win is a stamp of approval.”
Jing Zhang; soprano soloist in Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ this spring
Jing Zhang came to IU four years ago from the China Conservatory of Music and hopes to pursue a career as a professional opera singer. \nAlthough her mother was a Peking Opera singer, which requires a completely different singing style, Zhang said, “I even didn’t know what Western opera was at all.” But on an off chance, a family friend mentioned that Zhang had a “‘big and \nbeautiful voice.’” \n“I’ve loved singing since I can remember,” Zhang said, and she began singing competitively at a young age. She was accepted to China Conservatory of Music’s high school program, from which she launched herself into her undergraduate vocal studies. \nDuring Zhang’s senior year of college, Joan Dornemann, an assistant conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, organized an opera Masters class in China. One day after Zhang had been warming up in the ladies rest room, she opened the door to find Dornemann standing outside. The conductor asked Zhang to audition for the masters class, and then accepted her to the program for free. \nAfter several more years of study, Dornemann suggested Zhang continue her education \nin America. \nAccording to Cuccaro, Zhang has had four major roles in operas at IU and will graduate this spring. This semester, she will appear in Verdi’s “Requiem” as the soprano soloist in February, and in April she will sing the role of Antonia in “The Tales \nof Hoffman.” \n“Winning this competition gives me extra energy and extra hope,” Zhang said. “I would like to offer personal thanks to all who helped me. Otherwise I wouldn’t have made it here today. I’m \nvery grateful.”
Kathryn Leemhuis; lead soprano in Bolcom’s ‘A Wedding’
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Leemhuis attended Oberlin College for her undergraduate studies and chose IU for her master’s degree over big-name schools like The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music. \n“I actually wanted to be a Broadway performer,” Leemhuis said. “But when I applied for undergraduate schools, they were all taking me for classical things.” At Oberlin, she performed in her first opera and fell in love with it. She has performed several lead roles in IU opera productions. \n“I love being able to take different characters and perform them in a way that really can move an audience,” she said. “I think that the music in opera is so powerful that you can tell any story, from a really happy story to something really devastating. And any audience will get it, whether it’s in English or Italian or French.” \nFor her audition pieces, Leemhuis chose arias from roles she had already performed as well as some completely new to her. “I really had to do some work on my own to discover what each character was about and the story line behind each opera so that when the judges ask for each piece, I know what mindset to go in,” she said. \nLeemhuis graduates this spring and will move to Chicago to serve in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s young artist program, where she will understudy famous opera singers and continue her performance studies. This semester, she will perform the lead soprano role in William Bolcom’s “A Wedding” in February and will give her master’s recital March 1. \n“I was very excited (to win),” Leemhuis said. “And it was very unexpected because there’s so much talent here.”
Jung Nan Yoon; to travel to Europe for Queen Elizabeth competition
After graduating from the Korea National University of Arts as a vocal performance major, Yoon decided to attend IU for her masters studies when she learned that the Jacobs School of Music has one of the best opera programs in the country. \nYoon has competed internationally and said her recent preparation for a contest in Seoul helped her get ready for the Metropolitan Opera auditions. \n“They required almost the same repertoires,” she said. “I always prepare for competitions with similar repertoires” to utilize all of her \npast practice. \nThe day of the competition, Yoon said she cooked and did yoga to stay relaxed \nand limber. \nYoon has had two lead roles in IU opera productions, including the role of Mimi in the November 2007 production of “La Bohème.” This summer, she will travel to Europe to compete in the Queen Elisabeth Singing Competition and “for rest,” she said. \nYoon said when she won the Metropolitan Opera Contest, she didn’t realize it at first because “there were too many great singers” in the contest. \nThis win is “just the first step forward to (being a) professional singer,” she said. \nYoon will graduate in May 2009, and hopes to continue singing and working as a \nvocal artist.
