Eleven singing actors who hope to make it to the finals of the 2009 Lotte Lenya Competition, including six Eastman School of Music students, will vie in a preliminary regional round at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, in Eastman’s Kilbourn Hall.
The Lotte Lenya Competition is an internationally recognized theater singing competition sponsored by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music in Manhattan. Named in honor of the German composer’s wife – the foremost interpreter of his music – the competition was founded in 1998 by Kim Kowalke, the Richard L. Turner Professor in Humanities at the University of Rochester, professor of musicology at the Eastman School, and president of the Kurt Weill Foundation.
Competitors are required to prepare a varied program, including two contrasting Kurt Weill selections, an opera/operetta aria, and an American musical theater number. At least one selection must be in a language other than English. The singers will be judged on interpretation of text, character portrayal, stage presence, voice, and technique. Regional preliminary rounds are scheduled across the United States.
Judge for the regional competition in Rochester is actress and singer Grace Keagy. While a student at the New England Conservatory, Keagy made her debut as Gwen in Leonard Bernstein’s original production of Copland’s Second Hurricane. She has been a featured actor on Broadway, appearing in such productions as Woman of the Year with Lauren Bacall, Goodtime Charlie and The Grand Tour with Joel Grey, I Remember Mama with Liv Ullman, and Carmelina with Cesare Siepi, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She has performed such roles as Mrs. Peachum in Threepenny Opera and Widow Begbick in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.
Eastman students who will be participating in the audition in Kilbourn Hall on Feb. 21 are seniors Paul Hopper and Abigail Levis; juniors Kendra Berentsen, Stephania Romaniuk, and Trevor Strader; and Ashley Benes, a first-year master’s degree student. Also competing in the preliminary round in Rochester are Kevin Lee of London, Ontario; Betty Waynne Allison and Yannick-Muriel Noah of Toronto; Kate Smith of Greensboro, N.C.; and Lazaro Estrada of Houston, Texas.
The final round of the Lotte Lenya Competition will be held on Saturday, April 18, in Kilbourn Hall. All rounds are free and open to the public.
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Calendar Listings:
February 21
Lotte Lenya Competition Preliminary Round. Regional auditions for the annual musical theatre repertoire competition.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
1 p.m.
Free
April 18
Lotte Lenya Competition Finals, Round One
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
11 a.m.
Free
April 18
Lotte Lenya Competition Finals, Evening Concert
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
8 p.m.
Free