Baritone Justin Austin has been named Rising Star at the 2024 International Opera Awards. The prestigious honour was announced at the gala ceremony held at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper on October 2.
Possessing a “mighty lyric voice” (The New York Times) “with a burly, burnished tone capable of striking nuance and color” (Washington Post), he is also the recipient of the 2024 Marian Anderson Vocal Award. Deemed “a natural performer – a star awaiting a galaxy to form around him” (Washington Post), he has been praised for his “intensity and charisma” (Opera), “rich, pointed expressiveness” (Parterre), and “immaculate musicianship” (Seen and Heard International).
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Justin Austin is an alumnus of the Choir Academy of Harlem, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Heidelberg Lied Akademie, and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. and B.M.). He studied for his bachelor’s degree at MSM with Catherine Malfitano.
More information about Justin’s win here. More information about the 2024 International Opera Awards here.
Three MSM alumni are featured in the cast of the Met Opera’s production of Rigoletto, on stage now through January 24, 2025: Soloman Howard (MM ‘10) as Sparafucile, J’Nai Bridges (BM ‘09) as Maddalena, and Eve Gigliotti (BM ‘97) as Giovanna.
In addition, three MSM alumni are part of the production’s artistic staff: Thomas Lausmann (PS ‘99) is Director of Music Administration at the Met Opera, Israel Gursky (PS ‘98), Musical Preparation for Rigoletto, and Joseph Lawson (DMA ’02), Stage Band Conductor for Rigoletto.
In the photo above, taken after opening night on September 30, from left to right: Thomas Lausmann, Israel Gursky, J’Nai Bridges, Eve Gigliotti, and MSM President Jim Gandre.
Learn more about the production here.
MSM Vocal Arts alumnus, bass-baritone Le Bu (MM ’22), pictured, won first prize, along with soprano Kathleen O’Mara, in the 2024 Operalia Competition. The two winners also won the competition’s Birgit Nilsson Prize, awarded to singers interpreting arias by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. The competition was founded in 1993 “to discover and help launch the careers of the most promising young opera singers.”
Le Bu, who is featured in the 2024–25 Metropolitan Opera season, was a Grand Finals Winner of the Met’s Laffont Competition in 2022 and spent two seasons in the company’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
The 2024 Operalia Competition took place in Mumbai, India, from Sept. 15 to Sept. 21, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The competition has helped launch the careers of many singers, among them Joyce DiDonato, Lisette Oropesa, Brian Jagde, Nina Stemme, Rolando Villazón, Sonya Yoncheva, and Lise Davidsen.
Watch a video of Le Bu’s performance at the competition here.
MSM Vocal Arts alumnus Darnell Abraham (MM ’13) will move into the starring role of Mufasa—the wise father of son Simba—in the on-going North American tour of The Lion King. His first performance will take place on September 24 at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina.
Previously, Darnell played George Washington in Hamilton to critical acclaim in the North American and international tours of the production.
Learn more about Darnell here. Learn more about the tour here.
Mezzo-soprano Gina Perregrino (BM ’14, MM ’16) will make her Metropolitan Opera debut as “una niña” in Golijov’s Ainadamar about the life and work of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca. The production runs October 15 through November 9, 2024. Perregrino took Flamenco classes to prepare for the audition after her agent informed her that the production was seeking singers who could also dance.
From Wilmington, Delaware, Perregrino studied with Mignon Dunn at Manhattan School of Music. She has gone onto casted and/or leading roles with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seattle Opera, The Atlanta Opera, Minnesota Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, among others.
To learn more about Gina, click here.
To read the WDEL article about Gina’s upcoming MET debut, click here.
MSM Choral Conducting alumnus and former MSM Vocal Arts faculty member Dr. Malcolm Merriweather (DMA ’15) has assumed the inaugural Tania León Chair of Music at Brooklyn College. This position is Brooklyn College’s first-ever endowed chair in honor of the College’s namesake professor emerita and renowned composer.
To read more about Dr. Merriweather’s appointment and his outside conducting engagements, click here.
MSM Dean of Vocal Arts Carleen Graham has been named to the Board of Opera America’s National Opera Center, New York City’s “communal home for opera and the performing arts.”
The Center’s custom-built facility provides flexible rental spaces for companies, choruses, ensembles, teaching studios, and individuals for performances, rehearsals, auditions, recordings, meetings, special events, networking, and more.
Opera America is a national service organization that supports and encourages the flourishing of opera in the United States. It leads and serves the entire opera community, supporting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera.
Learn more here.
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024–2025 season features many MSM alumni including SeokJong Baek (BM ’16, MM ’18), tenor, in Tosca, performing Sep 25, 28; Oct 3, 6, 11, and J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09), mezzo-soprano, in Rigoletto, performing Sep 30; Oct 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, 23, 26; Nov 1, 4, 8.
Learn about the performers and the productions here, in alphabetical order.
MSM alumnus and trustee Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08) — the celebrated American countertenor who is one of opera’s biggest stars — will be leading Opera Philadelphia as its next general director and president beginning in June, the company announced on Thursday.
“Costanzo will be a rare figure in classical music: an artist in his prime who is also working as an administrator,” writes The New York Times.
Read the full article here.
Tenor Daniel Espinal (BM ’22) from Sarasota, Florida, is a winner of the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition along with four other competitors. He receives a prize money of $20,000 prize along with the prestige, exposure, and networking opportunities that come with winning this renowned competition that has launched the careers of many of opera’s most well-known stars.
Yulin Wang (MM ’25), tenor and Zhenpeng Zhang (MM ’23, PS ’24), baritone, both students of Cynthia Hoffman at MSM, won Encouragement Awards during the Competition.
MSM alumni mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner (BM ’19), tenor Samuel White (PS ’18), and baritone Benjamin Dickerson (BM ’17) have been named winners in the 2024 George and Nora London Foundation Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers, one of the opera world’s oldest and most prestigious competitions. They are pictured above along with the other four principal award winners.
The winners were announced after the competition’s final round on February 16 which took place at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, with both an in-person and online audience.
Erin Wagner, from El Paso, Texas sang “Sein wir wieder gut” from Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, and won the George London Award of $12,000 in memory of Mary Palumbo, sponsored by Donald Palumbo.
Samuel White, from Columbia, South Carolina sang “Amfortas! Die Wunde” from Wagner’s Parsifal won the George London Award of $12,000 in memory of Lloyd E. Rigler, sponsored by The Lloyd E. Rigler and Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation, James D. Rigler, President.
Benjamin Dickerson, from Burlington, Vermont, sang “Nemico della patria” from Giordano’s Andrea Chénier won the George London Award of $12,000 in memory of Lois Kirschenbaum, sponsored by the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers.
Learn more about the competition here.
MSM alumni soprano Jouelle Roberson (PS ’22) who studied at MSM with Cynthia Hoffman, and bass Edwin Jhamaal Davis (MM ’17) who studied with Mark Oswald, are among the eight finalists for the 2024 Houston Grand Opera (HGO) Concert of Arias: the 36th Annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. It will be presented live from the Wortham Theater Center in Houston on February 2, 2024, at 7 p.m. CT.
HGO holds the international competition each year to identify the most promising emerging artists in opera, each a potential candidate for the company’s prestigious training program for young artists, the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio. The eight finalists spend the week leading up to the Concert of Arias learning more about HGO and working with its music staff. At the event, each will perform two arias, competing for prizes including the $10,000 purse for first place.
More information here.
MSM alumnus Scott Altman (MM ’96) has been named Los Angeles Master Chorale President & CEO. Mr. Altman will assume this new role on January 2, 2024 after eight years as President & CEO of the Cincinnati Ballet. He previously served in directorship positions with Arizona Opera, Opera New Jersey, and Ballet West.
Altman’s decorated career of nearly 30 years in nonprofit administration and the performing arts includes 20 years as an international opera singer, including 40 roles.
Bass Baritone Nan Wang (MM ’22, PS ’23) has been named one of six new resident artists of the prestigious institution the Academy of Vocal Arts. Nan Wang is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music and the Central Conservatory of Music in China, and has collaborated with Glimmerglass Festival and the Chautauqua Institute, among others. He studied at MSM with Marlena Malas.
“We are thrilled to welcome these extraordinary artists to the Academy of Vocal Arts. They represent the future of opera and embody the passion, dedication, and artistry that we strive to foster at our institution,” says Scott Guzielek, President and Artistic Director of AVA about the new residents.
Opera Wire reports on the news here.
Read MSM’s profile of Nan Wang published in December 2022 here.
The world premiere of Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha, re-imagined with a new prologue and epilogue by composer and MSM faculty member Damien Sneed and librettist Karen Chilton, will be taking place at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on May 20. Performances run through June 26. The production is conducted by MSM alumnus George Manahan, and features baritone MSM alumnus Justin Austin as Scott Joplin.
Treemonisha was published in 1911, but Joplin never lived to see a fully realized stage production. This new edition of Treemonisha celebrates the strength, beauty, and wisdom of Black women and brings back to light a forgotten figure of history — Freddie Alexander Joplin.
Learn more and purchase tickets here.
MSM alumnus Joseph Tancredi (BM ’19) will compete among 20 singers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico regions to compete in the semifinal round of the 2023 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition on April 17 at 10 am ET.
The semifinal competition will take place on the Met stage before a panel of judges who will determine the finalists who will advance to the Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, April 23, at 3 pm ET.
The winners of this prestigious competition will receive a cash prize of $20,000 and career-making exposure.
On Friday, March 24, the PBS public television network is featuring MSM alumna mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09) on its award-winning flagship program American Masters in a mini-documentary called J’Nai Bridges Unamplified, directed by Christine Turner.
In the program, the critically acclaimed, Grammy–winning opera singer takes the stage in A Knee on the Neck, a choral tribute to George Floyd. Hosted by Broadway legend Audra McDonald.
Learn about the episode here.
MSM student and mezzo soprano Hannah Jones (MM ’24) is one of several young artists being mentored by Denyce Graves this year as part of her work with the Denyce Graves Foundation. Hannah will appear with Ms.Graves on Good Morning America airing on the ABC network on Thursday, February 21 at approximately 8:20 AM. Hannah studies at MSM with Ashley Putman.
Learn more about the Denyce Graves Foundation here.
MSM alumnus tenor Joseph Tancredi (BM ’19) stepped in just an hour before curtain on February 5 to sing the tenor solo in Opera Philadelphia‘s production of Carmina Burana by Carl Off, replacing the scheduled performer who was ill.
It was Joseph’s debut with both Opera Philadelphia, and performing at the Academia of Music in Philadelphia. It was also his first time performing what is considered a notoriously difficult solo.
“I knew Joe had the notes, I knew that he had a large voice that could fill the Academy of Music and had the right kind of temperament to step in at the last minute,” said Grant Loehnig (MM ’05) — also an MSM alumnus — who is head of the music staff at Opera Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Enquirer.
Joseph is completing his master’s studies at Curtis Institute of Music.
Read the article in the Philadelphia Enquirer here.
Congratulations to MSM alumnus countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08), a MSM Board of Trustee member, for being a clue on a recent episode of the long-running television quiz program Jeopardy!
Learn more about Anthony Roth Costanzo here.
In late October, Dean Graham will present two masterclasses at Brigham Young University and speak about the process of auditioning for graduate school programs in voice.
Dean Graham has also been invited to present with Darren Woods at the plenary session for the National Opera Association Conference in Houston in January 2023.
Conductor and baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather (DMA ’15), an MSM alumnus and faculty member, has been appointed the first-ever director of the newly formed New York Philharmonic Chorus. The ensemble will have its premiere performance during the David Geffen Hall opening galas beginning on October 26 at 7 PM in a concert that will feature some of opera and Broadway’s biggest stars, including Renée Fleming, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Bernadette Peters, and Vanessa Williams.
Learn more about the appointment here. Learn more about Malcom here.
Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa, recently honored MSM vocal arts faculty member Mark Schnaible with the institution’s respected CODA Legacy Award for lifetime achievement in the field of the performing and visual arts.
The internationally renowned bass-baritone and vocal technician has enjoyed a distinguished career in the classical music world for the past 35 years.
The award is given to graduates of Morningside University who have demonstrated academic and performance excellence, unusually high leadership and service on a local, regional, and/or national level.
More about Mark Schnaible here.
On June 27 as part of its celebration of Black Music Month, National Public Radio (NPR) featured MSM alumna and mezzo soprano J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09) on an episode of the acclaimed series Tiny Desk Concert.
J’Nai was accompanied by MSM students Christian McGhee (MM ’23) on drums, Nolan Nwachukwu (BM ’23) on bass, and MSM faculty member Damien Sneed on piano.
Watch the concert here.
New York City’s classical music station WQXR featured MSM vocal arts alumnus baritone Justin Austin (BM ’14, MM ’17) in its on-going website series Around the Boroughs. The article is written by MSM vocal arts alumna, Heather Donovan (MM ’20).
During the 2021-2022 Metropolitan Opera season, Mr. Austin made his house debut as Marcellus in the company premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet, while also covering the leading role of Charles Blow in MSM trustee Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones.
Read article here.
Jazz Arts faculty member Damien Sneed received a rave review for his conducting and arrangement of the June performance of The Ordering of Moses at Riverside Church. The Harlem Chamber Players presented R. Nathaniel Dett’s 1937 oratorio in honor of the centennial of the Harlem Renaissance, for the Juneteenth weekend.
MSM Alumna Krysty Swann (BM ’08)was the mezzo soprano soloist.
“Sneed’s harmonization gave it a discordant underbelly reflective of struggle — a reminder that it has been only two years since protests for George Floyd swept the globe, and one year since Juneteenth, an annual observation of Emancipation dating to 1866, was consecrated as a federal holiday,” writes NY Times critic Oussama Zahr.
Read the review here.
The program by Justin Austin (BM ’14, MM ’17) presented in the Board of Officers Room at the Armory included three sets of Langston Hughes poems.
“The baritone Justin Austin showed off a mighty lyric voice with dramatic flair at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan on Tuesday evening. Austin’s tone is deep and earthy, with a firmly stitched timbre that withstands some high-octane singing. At the Armory, he found operatic climaxes in most songs — his high notes were strong, shattering, indefatigable,” writes Oussama Zahr of The New York Times.
Read the full review here.
Bass-baritone Le Bu (BM ’22), from Yancheng, China is one of six winners named in the Met Opera’s 2022 Laffont Competition Grand Finals held on May 1.
Le Bu, pictured above in a recital in Greenfield Hall at MSM, is one of six winners of the Met Opera 2022 Laffont Competition:
Le Bu, 26, Bass-Baritone Matthew Cairns, 27, Tenor Alexandra Razskazoff, 30, Soprano Julie Roset, 25, Soprano Anne Marie Stanley, 30, Mezzo-Soprano Esther Tonea, 28, Soprano
The winners each receive $20,000 prize money, and the chance to launch a major operatic career while accompanied by the Met Orchestra, conducted by Marco Armiliato.
Learn more about Le Bu here.
MSM alumnus and mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner (BM ’19) is being showcased at Carnegie Hall on April 19 at 7:30 PM as the Naumburg Foundation 2021 Vocal Award Winner.
The concert marks the solo debut of Erin Wagner at Carnegie Hall, and takes place in the Weill Recital Hall with accompaniment by pianist Shawn Chang. Music performed is by Edie Hill, Fauré, Ravel, Errollyn Wallen, Shawn Change, and Mahler.
For tickets visit the Carnegie Hall website here.
Congratulations to MSM faculty and alumni who won 2022 GRAMMY Awards for classical, jazz, and composing/arranging!
The awards were presented on April 3, 2022 in Las Vegas. Winners include MSM alumni Anthony Roth Costanzo (MM ’08) (in photo on left) and J’Nai Bridges (BM ’09) soloists in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Philip Glass’ Ahknaten which won Best Opera Recording.
View the full list of winners here.
View all MSM faculty and alumni nominated for the 2022 awards here.
Email This Page
Email Message
Page Reference (will be sent in email)
https://www.msmnyc.edu/success-stories/
This site uses cookies to improve user experience. By continuing, you agree to our updated policy. To find out more, visit our cookie & information use policy.