Lotte Lenya Competition
2011
16 April 2011, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1980 and before 1 January 1992.
Judges: Rebecca Luker, Rob Berman, Michael Kaufmann.
Winners: Caitlin Mathes (Dayville, CT), First Prize of $15,000; Jing Lin (Putian, China), Emma Sewell (London, England), and Jacob Lewis Smith (Albuquerque, NM), three equal prizes of $8,000 each; Daniel Schwait (Baltimore, MD) and John Viscardi (Philadelphia, PA), Lys Symonette Awards for Outstanding Performance of an Individual Number ($2,500 each); Jorell Williams (Brentwood, NY), Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Vocal Talent ($2,500).
Awards to non-finalists: Amber Opheim (Columbia, SC), Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise; Natalie Ballenger (Santa Cruz, CA), Samantha Helmstetter (Fairborn, OH), Nathan Lucrezio (Union City, NJ), Kevin Russell Rose (Sarasota, FL), and Cecilia Ticktin (Roosevelt, NJ), Emerging Talent Awards.
Watch 2011 prizewinners' performances here.
2010
17 April 2010, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1977 and before 1 January 1991.
Judges: Timothy Nolen, Lisa Vroman, and Rob Berman.
Winners: Rebekah Camm (Chicago, IL), First Prize; David Arnsperger (Berlin, Germany) and Margaret Gawrysiak (New York, NY), Second Prizes; Cooper Grodin (New York, NY), Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Performance of Individual Number; Edward Mout (Chicago, IL), Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Vocal Achievement; Kyle Scatliffe (Westwood, NJ) and Timothy J. McDevitt (New York, NY), Lys Symonette Awards for Extraordinary Artistic Promise.
Awards to non-finalists: Julia Teitel (Malden, MA), Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise; Krista Buccellato (Boston, MA), Margaret Dietrich (Oklahoma City, OK), Lora Lee Gayer (Naples, FL), Blair Goldberg (New York, NY), Joseph Mikolaj (New Haven, CT), Annie J. Rago (Pittsburgh, PA), Adam R. Richardson (New York, NY), and Daniel Schwait (New York, NY), Young Talent Awards.
Watch 2010 prizewinners' performances here.
2009
18 April 2009, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1976 and before 1 January 1990.
Judges: Rob Berman, Theodore S. Chapin, and Teresa Stratas.
Winners: Alen Hodzovic (Berlin, Germany), First Prize; Lauren Worsham (New York, NY), Second Prize; Zachary James (New York, NY), Third Prize; Michael Anthony McGee (New York, NY) and Yannick-Muriel Noah (Toronto, ON), Lys Symonette Awards for Outstanding Performance of Individual Numbers; Ginger Costa-Jackson (New York, NY), Lys Symonette Award for Vocal Promise.
Watch selections of the prizewinners' performances at the 2009 Finals:
Alen Hodzovic
Lauren Worsham
Zachary James
2008
12 April 2008, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1975 and before 1 January 1989.
Judges: Victoria Clark, James Holmes, and Theodore S. Chapin.
Winners: Rebecca Jo Loeb (New York, NY), First Prize; Ariela Morgenstern (Brooklyn, NY), Second Prize; Bray Wilkins (Moscow, ID) and Maija Skille (Helsinki, Finland), Third Prizes; Tora Augestad (Berlin, Germany), Lauren Jelencovich (New York, NY) and Elizabeth Reiter (New York, NY), Lys Symonette Awards for Outstanding Performance of Individual Numbers; John Brancy (Mullica Hill, NJ), Lys Symonette Award for Vocal Promise.
2007
21 April 2007, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1974 and before 1 January 1988.
Judges: Teresa Stratas, Ted Sperling, and Theodore S. Chapin.
Winners: James Benjamin Rodgers (New York, NY), First Prize; Analisa Leaming (Rochester, NY), Second Prize; Christopher Herbert (New York, NY) and Leena Chopra (New York, NY), Third Prizes; Paul Corona (Chicago, IL), Jeanine De Bique (New York, NY), Lys Symonette Awards for Outstanding Vocal Talent; Brian Charles Rooney (New York, NY), Lys Symonette Award for Outstanding Dramatic Talent.
2006
22 April 2006, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1973 and before 1 January 1987.
Judges: Teresa Stratas, Theodore S. Chapin, and James Holmes.
Winners: Justin Welsh (Toronto, ON), First Prize; Justin Lee Miller (New York, NY) and Rodell Aure Rosel (Chicago, IL), Second Prizes; Sarah Blaskowsky (New York, NY) and Hallie Silverston (Rochester, NY), Third Prizes; Karim Sulayman (New York, NY), Meredith Arwady (Chicago, IL), and Bray Wilkins (Port Gibson, MS), Lys Symonette Awards for Outstanding Performance of an Individual Number.
Four of the five Prize winners were presented in an 18 May concert at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
2005
9 April 2005, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1972 and before 1 January 1986.
Judges: William Bolcom, Harold Prince, and Angelina Réaux.
Winners: Jonathan Michie (Rochester, NY), First Prize; Liam Bonner (New York, NY) and Erik Liberman (New York, NY), Second Prizes; Morgan James (New York, NY), Third Prize; Jendi Tarde (Chicago, IL), Lys Symonette Special Award for Outstanding Performance of an Individual Number.
Prize winners were presented in an 19 May concert at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
2004
27 March 2004, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers who were born after 31 December 1971.
Judges: Theodore S. Chapin, Alvin Epstein, and Angelina Réaux.
Winners: Three equal prizes were awarded to Richard Todd Adams, tenor (New York, NY); Amy Justman, soprano (New York, NY); and Misty Ann Sturm, soprano (Lindenhurst, NY).
Prize winners were presented in a 3 June concert at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
2003
22 March 2003, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers residing in the United States and Canada who were born after 31 December 1970.
Judges: Teresa Stratas, Theodore S. Chapin, and Ted Sperling.
Winners: Siri Vik (Cincinnati, OH), First Prize; Peter McGillivray (Toronto, ON), Second Prize; Elaine Alvarez (Brooklyn, NY), Jeffrey Behrens (Pittsburgh, PA), and Michael McKinsey (Brooklyn, NY), Third Prizes.
Four of the five Prize winners were presented in a 15 May concert at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
2002
13 April 2002, the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, open to singers residing in the United States and Canada who had not yet reached their 32nd birthday as of 31 December 2001.
Judges: Eric Stern, Teresa Stratas, and Stanley Walden.
Winners: Lisa Conlon (Rochester, NY), First Prize; Kyle Barisich (New York, NY) and Ethan Watermeier (Astoria, NY), Second Prizes. Amy Van Looy (Rochester, NY), Nicole Cabell (Chicago, IL), Lucas Meachem (Rochester, NY) received Lys Symonette Awards for Outstanding Vocal Talent.
The First and Second Prize winners were presented in a 13 May concert at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
2001
17 March 2001, Eastman School of Music, hosted by the University of Rochester for students in the United States or Canada.
Judges: André Bishop, Teresa Stratas, and Welz Kauffman.
Winners: Jennifer Dyan Goode (Manhattan School of Music), First Prize; Raquela Sheeran (The Juilliard School) and Jacob Langfelder (Boston Conservatory), Second Prizes; and Noah Stewart (The Juilliard School) and Misty Ann Castleberry Sturm (Eastman School of Music), Lys Symonette Special Awards.
All winners participated in a concert at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York City on 27 November 2001.
2000
16 February 2000, competition for students, Akademie der Künste Berlin, co- sponsored by the Kurt-Weill-Gesellschaft and Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.
Judges: Teresa Stratas, Elmar Ottenthal, and James Holmes.
Winners: First Prizes were awarded to Sophia Brickwell (Leipzig), Lisa Löfquist (Berlin), Juliane Price (Essen), and Susanne Serfling (Berlin); Second Prizes were won by Nicole Johannhanwar (Munich), Rosa Schneider (Potsdam), and Anneka Ulmer (Chemnitz).
17 February 2000, competition for young professional singers, Dessau, co-sponsored by the Kurt-Weill-Gesellschaft and Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.
Judges: Teresa Stratas, Elmar Ottenthal, and James Holmes.
Winners: First Prize was awarded to Annette Postel (Baden-Württemberg); and Second Prizes to Kaja Plessing (Düsseldorf), Kathrin Unger (Berlin), and Cordula Wirkner (Nuremberg).
Winners of both compeitions were presented in a gala concert at Dessau's Bauhaus on 18 February, following the opening of the 2000 Kurt-Weill-Fest.
1999
3 December 1999, Eastman School of Music, hosted by the University of Rochester for students at schools in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Judges: Teresa Stratas, Jonathan Eaton, and John Mauceri.
Winners: Amy Orsulak (Manhattan School of Music), First Prize; Christina Carr (Eastman School of Music) and Dirk Weiler (City College, City University of New York), Second Prizes; and Daniel Spiotta and Amy Van Looy (both Eastman School of Music), Third Prizes. In addition, a Lys Symonette special prize for outstanding accompanist was awarded to Thomas Rosenkranz (also of Eastman).
All winners were asked to participate in a concert at New York City's 92nd Street Y on 6 February 2000.
1998
12 November 1998, Eastman School of Music, hosted by the University of Rochester for students of the University.
Judges: Teresa Stratas, Julius Rudel, and Mark Cuddy.
Winners: Rachel Albert, Leah Arington, Heidi Bieber, Rebecca Comerford, Katia Escalera, Danielle Frink, Elizabeth McDonald, Brian Mulligan, Lauren Pastorek, Tami Petty, and Teresa Winner.
The competition winners were presented on 14 November in a recital at Eastman's Kilbourn Hall.
