April 20, 2021: Kim H. Kowalke, President of the Kurt Weill Foundation, is pleased to announce the finalists for the Lotte Lenya Competition. Fifteen performers will compete for top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000.
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod (Israel, 33)
Max Chernin, (USA, 31)
Ty Chiko (Bahamas, 32)
Monica Dewey (USA, 31)
Taylor-Alexis DuPont (USA, 30)
Charles Eaton (USA, 30)
Nicole Fernandez-Coffaro (USA, 28)
Kaden Forsberg (Canada, 29)
Katrina Galka (USA, 31)
Rebekah Howell (USA, 29)
Helen Zhibing Huang (China, 31)
Victoria Okafor (USA, 25)
Andrew Polec (USA, 32)
Katherine Riddle (USA, 30)
Kaileigh Riess (USA, 26)
Julie Benko (USA, 32) and Sacha Smith (Canada, 26) were named as alternate finalists. In recognition of the exceptional level of talent displayed by this year's contestants, and the ongoing professional and financial challenges posed by the global pandemic, each participating finalist will receive a minimum award of $2,000, while non-advancing semifinalists were awarded $1,000 each.
The 2021 competition drew a record-breaking 500 applicants from 29 countries and 39 U.S. states, each performing a program of four selections--one each from opera/operetta, Golden Age musical theater, contemporary musical theater, and the stage works of Kurt Weill. In the semifinal round, thirty-one contestants auditioned via video submission and were coached remotely by Broadway and opera star Lisa Vroman, Broadway mainstay Analisa Leaming, and opera and musical theater globetrotter Zachary James. Leaming and James took home top prizes themselves in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and are the first prizewinners who have returned to judge. "There’s no other competition like it," said Leaming, "One that celebrates authentic storytelling, a high level of artistry and an ability to excel at a wide range of styles." Reflecting on the pool of semifinalists, James said, "I was inspired by their passion and command of their craft. This competition is a global search for the game changers of the musical theatre and opera stages, and we are in good hands."
Finals will take place in-person on 28 August 2021 in either New York City or Rochester, NY, and will be livestreamed worldwide at www.kwf.org/LLC. The finals presentation will also be broadcast on OperaVision beginning in September. The three-person jury for the finals includes Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and director Victoria Clark, renowned Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn, and Obie Award-winning actress and singer, Mary Beth Peil, who launched her career as the winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In addition to top prizes, the judges may bestow discretionary awards of $3,500, including the Rebecca Luker Award inaugurated this year for an outstanding performance of a selection from the Golden Age of American musical theater.
The fourteen contestants who did not advance to the Finals are: Adelaide Boedecker (USA, 32), Avery Boettcher (USA, 28), Angela Bonello (USA, 21) Benjamin Camenzuli (Canada, 29), Joshua Conyers (USA, 32), Blake Denson (USA, 25), Daniella Friesen (Canada, 32), Dylan Glenn (USA, 27), Richard Glöckner (Germany, 26), Sarah Goodman (USA, 27), Matthew Hill (USA, 30), Lauren Joyanne Morris (United Kingdom, 30), Luke Sikora (USA, 32), and Ryan Wolfe (USA, 24).
More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of "total-package performers" (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Brady Sansone at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x204 or
March 11, 2021: Kim H. Kowalke, President and CEO of the Kurt Weill Foundation, is pleased to announce the semifinalists for the 2021 Lotte Lenya Competition.
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod (Israel, 33)
Julie Benko (USA, 31)
Adelaide Boedecker (USA, 32)
Avery Boettcher (USA, 28)
Angela Bonello (USA, 21)
Benjamin Camenzuli (Canada, 28)
Max Chernin (USA, 30)
Joshua Conyers (USA, 32)
Tychiko Cox (Bahamas, 32)
Blake Denson (USA, 25)
Monica Dewey (USA, 31)
Taylor-Alexis DuPont (USA, 30)
Charles Eaton (USA, 30)
Nicole Fernandez-Coffaro (USA, 28)
Kaden Forsberg (Canada, 29)
Daniella Friesen (Canada, 32)
Katrina Galka (USA, 31)
Dylan Glenn (USA, 27)
Richard Glöckner (Germany, 26)
Sarah Goodman (USA, 26)
Matthew Hill (USA, 30)
Rebekah Howell (USA, 29)
Helen Zhibing Huang (China, 28)
Lauren Joyanne Morris (United Kingdom, 30)
Victoria Okafor (USA, 25)
Andrew Polec (USA, 32)
Katherine Riddle (USA, 29)
Kaileigh Riess (USA, 26)
Luke Sikora (USA, 32)
Sacha Smith (Canada, 26)
Ryan Wolfe (USA, 24)
In addition to the semifinalists, eight applicants received Emerging Talent Awards with a cash prize of $500 each: Haley Dortch (USA, 19), Nicole Goldstein (USA, 23), Lydia Graham (USA, 22), Brandon Roth (USA, 22), Eric Sebek (USA, 19), Ruby Shadley (USA, 23), Ayaka Shimada (Japan, 22) and David Young (USA, 22). The recipient of the Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Talent in the amount of $500 is Katherine Beck (USA, 30).
The 2021 competition received a staggering 500 applications, shattering previous year records, with submissions from twenty-nine countries and 39 U.S. states. Each applicant submitted a video performance of four contrasting song selections including musical theater, opera, and Kurt Weill repertoire.
The semifinal round will take place via video audition and online coaching sessions in mid-April. For the first time in the competition’s 23-year history, two previous top prizewinners will return as judges: Broadway mainstay Analisa Leaming (2007), and opera and musical theater globetrotter Zachary James (2009), will join Broadway and opera star and four-time Lenya Competition judge Lisa Vroman to complete the trio of semifinal coach/adjudicators. The semifinalists will compete for a spot in the 2021 finals, which will take place live and in-person on 29 May, or, should circumstances not allow for that date, in late August, in either Rochester, NY or New York City. Leading artists from theater, opera, television, and film make up the star-studded panel of finals judges: Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and director Victoria Clark, renowned Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn, and Obie Award-winning actress and singer, Mary Beth Peil, who launched her career as the winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The final round will be live-streamed on the Lenya Competition website and available as a broadcast on OperaVision shortly after the finals date.
In addition to the top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000, discretionary awards ranging from $3,500 to $5,000 recognize outstanding finals performances of individual numbers or particular aspects of performances. Also this year, finals judges may choose to bestow the inaugural Rebecca Luker Award, for an outstanding performance of a selection from the Golden Age of American musical theater. The award was established by the Kurt Weill Foundation in honor of Broadway star and six-time Lenya Competition judge Rebecca Luker, who passed away late last year due to complications caused by ALS. All semifinalists who do not advance to the finals will receive an award of $500. Total prizes will exceed $75,000.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Brady Sansone at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x204 or
October 22, 2020: The hardships COVID-19 has caused for songwriters and performers have prompted The Kurt Weill Foundation to provide financial support to participants chosen for the Lotte Lenya Competition Songbook, a new collection of sixteen contemporary theater songs by nineteen emerging writers. Broadway luminaries Kelli O'Hara, Andrew Lippa, and Andy Einhorn selected the songs from a diverse pool of sixty-six submissions. Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara exclaimed, "Never have I needed music so much, and the opportunity I was given to stop, sit and listen to these brand new musical voices was a pure gift."
The Songbook is accompanied by audio recordings performed by sixteen Lenya Competition prizewinners to showcase their talents as stages remain dark. The Foundation funded all honoraria, recording, and administrative costs for the composers, lyricists, and singers and provides links to recordings and sheet music. The Preface to the Songbook provides more information about the project.
New creative relationships between songwriters and performers have evolved in the process. Writer Ben Wexler welcomed the experience of working closely with 2012 Competition prizewinner Jacob Keith Watson: "collaborating with a fellow artist on making a song come to life has been a welcome breath of oxygen." 2007 prizewinner Analisa Leaming, who recently appeared as Anna in Lincoln Center's The King and I and Irene in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway and the national tour, expressed how the experience has been "creatively fulfilling," and how she relished the chance to "continue to hone my craft and make music again."
The Songbook represents a wide range of ages, perspectives, and character and vocal types for today's versatile singing actors, particularly Competition contestants seeking fresh and challenging material for one of the required repertory categories. Songwriting team Isabella Dawis and Tidtaya Sinutoke noted that the project is "a welcome gesture of inclusion, inviting BIPOC stories into the musical theater repertoire." Seven songs present male characters, seven female, with one each for transgender and gender-neutral characters. Five songs are intended for characters of color. As an architect of the Songbook project, Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori said, "This is a tremendous opportunity to amplify voices of all kinds. I'm thrilled by the reach of the project and the persistence of the Kurt Weill Foundation to promote collaboration and partnership during these isolating times."
Nominated by professionals with experience developing new works, the participating songwriters are Julianne Wick Davis, Anna Jacobs, Daniel Rudin, Mark Sonnenblick, Katya Stanislavskaya, Ben Wexler, and Daniel Zaitchik. The songwriting teams include Derrick Byars-Tia DeShazor, Melissa Li-Kit Yan, Douglas Lyons-Ethan Pakchar, Will Reynolds-Eric Price, Josh Schmidt-Royce Vavrek, and Tidtaya Sinutoke-Isabella Dawis.
Participating prizewinners of the Lotte Lenya Competition are Alison Arnopp (2013), Natalie Ballenger (2014), Felipe Bombonato (2017), Christian Douglas (2018), Nkrumah Gatling (2018), Amy Justman (2004), Analisa Leaming (2007), Erik Liberman (2005), Michael Maliakel (2015), Gemma Nha (2020), Jim Schubin (2016), Brian Vu (2016), Jacob Keith Watson (2012), Nyla Watson (2019), Jeremy Weiss (2020), and Lauren Worsham (2009).
Since the launch of the Lotte Lenya Competition in 1998:
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Brady Sansone at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x204 or
April 30, 2020: The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music announces the world premiere of the documentary film Down to Twelve: The 2020 Lotte Lenya Competition Finalists, which will stream live on Saturday, May 2 at 11:00 AM EDT on www.kwf.org/LLC. The 75-minute film captures stellar performances and post-audition interviews by the twelve finalists filmed during the two-day Semifinals in New York City in mid-March, when contestants were adjudicated and then coached by Broadway and opera star Lisa Vroman and three-time Tony nominee Rebecca Luker.
The final round had been scheduled for May 2 in front of a live audience in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. With continuing uncertainties surrounding public performances during the global pandemic, the Kurt Weill Foundation has reluctantly made the decision to cancel the 2020 Competition Finals. However, for the first time the Competition has commissioned a documentary film to showcase the twelve finalists. The film remains available following the premiere on www.kwf.org/LLC and YouTube.
The 2020 Competition received a record number of 282 applications with submissions from 24 countries and 33 states. The twelve finalists, selected from 27 semifinalists, represent five countries:
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod (Israel, 32)
Anighya Crocker (USA, 20)
Dylan Glenn (USA, 26)
Rivers Hawkins (USA, 30)
Jonah Hoskins (USA, 23)
Elena Howard-Scott (Canada, 23)
Gemma Nha (Australia, 19)
Marie Oppert (France, 22)
Teresa Perrotta (USA, 24)
Lauren Senden (USA, 19)
Jeremy Weiss (USA, 27)
Ronald Wilbur (USA, 29)
Kim Kowalke, Kurt Weill Foundation President and Founder of the Competition, explains: "As Down to Twelve amply demonstrates, this would have been a highly competitive Finals with all having a shot at the top prizes. Therefore, each finalist will receive a special KWF Trustees Award of $5,000 (thus sharing equally in the prize pool) and will remain eligible to enter the Competition next year."
The 2020 Finals judges--Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and director Victoria Clark; renowned Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn; and Obie Award-winning actress and singer, Mary Beth Peil--will be invited to serve instead in 2021.
Links to live stream the film:
More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of "total-package performers" (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Brady Sansone at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x204 or
March 16, 2020: Following the semi-final round on 11 and 12 March in New York City, twelve contestants representing five countries have advanced to the final round of the 2020 Lotte Lenya Competition:
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod, 32 (Tel Aviv, Israel/Vienna, Austria)
Anighya Crocker, 20 (Springfield, TN)
Dylan Glenn, 26 (Pleasant Grove, UT)
Rivers Hawkins, 30 (Columbia, SC)
Jonah Hoskins, 23 (Saratoga Springs, UT)
Elena Howard-Scott, 23 (Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
Gemma Nha, 19 (Sydney, Australia)
Marie Oppert, 22 (Paris, France)
Teresa Perrotta, 24 (Orlando, FL)
Lauren Senden, 19 (North Mankato, MN)
Jeremy Weiss, 27 (Charlottesville, VA)
Ronald Wilbur, 29 (Atlanta, GA)
A record number of two hundred eighty-two applicants from twenty-four countries and thirty-three U.S. states submitted video auditions for the 2020 Competition. In the semifinal round, twenty-seven contestants were coached and adjudicated by Broadway and opera star Lisa Vroman and three-time Tony nominee Rebecca Luker. Other semi-finalists, who received a $500 prize, include Michael Aiello, 32 (Clarence, NY), David Anderson, 24 (Grand Ledge, MI), Zarah Brock, 26 (Fredericksburg, VA), Michael Day, 28 (Rockford, IL), Darren Drone, 30 (Little Rock, AR), Kaden Forsberg, 28 (Montreal, QC, Canada), Crystal Glenn, 27 (Yonkers, NY), Jonathan Heller, 25 (Huntington, NY), Michael Hewitt, 30 (Arlington, VA), Christine Price, 28 (Tulsa, OK), Emma Sorenson, 28 (Chicago, IL), Meg Supina, 30 (State College, PA), Tabea Tatan, 32 (Cologne, Germany), Sophie Thompson, 24 (Princeton, NJ), and Andy Zimmermann, 30 (Santa Monica, CA).
The Eastman School of Music has canceled all on-campus events during the spring semester; therefore the 2020 Lenya Competition Finals will not take place as initially scheduled on 2 May in Kilbourn Hall. The Foundation is considering alternative scenarios for the finals in light of the global pandemic and the CDC's guidelines that no gatherings of fifty people or more occur over the next eight weeks. An announcement concerning the status of this year's Competition will be made in the near future.
More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of “total-package performers” (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Brady Sansone at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x204 or
February 11, 2020: Kim H. Kowalke, President and CEO of the Kurt Weill Foundation, is pleased to announce the semifinalists for the 2020 Lotte Lenya Competition.
Michael Aiello (USA, 32)
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod (Israel, 32)
David Anderson (USA, 24)
Zarah Brock (USA, 26)
Anighya Crocker (USA, 20)
Michael Day (USA, 28)
Darren Drone (USA, 30)
Kaden Forsberg (Canada, 28)
Crystal Glenn (USA, 27)
Dylan Glenn (USA, 26)
Rivers Hawkins (USA, 30)
Jonathan Heller (USA, 25)
Michael Hewitt (USA, 29)
Jonah Hoskins (USA, 23)
Elena Howard-Scott (Canada, 23)
Stephanie Jabre (USA, 30)
Gemma Nha (Australia, 19)
Marie Oppert (France, 22)
Teresa Perrotta (USA, 24)
Christine Price (USA, 28)
Lauren Senden (USA, 19)
Emma Sorenson (USA, 28)
Meg Supina (USA, 30)
Tabea Tatan (Germany, 32)
Sophie Thompson (USA, 24)
Jeremy Weiss (USA, 27)
Ronald Wilbur (USA, 29)
Andy Zimmermann (USA, 30)
In addition to the semi-finalists, seven applicants received Emerging Talent Awards with a cash prize of $500 each: Melanie Dubil (USA, 22), Emily Holguin (USA, 22), Kassondra Kardos (Canada, 22), Nicole Maridan (USA, 21), Sophia Spivey (USA, 22), Kodiak Thompson (USA, 20), and Katie Yeomans (USA, 19). The recipient of the Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise in the amount of $500 is Sydney Clarke (Canada, 26).
The 2020 competition received a record number of applications--a thirty-one percent increase from last year--with submissions from twenty-four countries and thirty-three U.S. states. Each applicant submitted a video performance of four contrasting song selections ranging from musical theater, opera, and Kurt Weill repertoire.
The semi-finals take place on 11 and 12 March in New York City, where contestants will be coached and adjudicated by Broadway and opera star Lisa Vroman and three-time Tony nominee Rebecca Luker. The semi-finalists will compete for a spot in the 2020 finals, which takes place on 2 May in Rochester, New York at Kilbourn Hall in front of a live audience. Leading artists from theater, opera, television, and film make up the star-studded panel of finals judges, including Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and director Victoria Clark, renowned Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn, and Obie Award-winning actress and singer Mary Beth Peil, who launched her career as the winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The finals daytime round and evening concert in Rochester are both free and open to the public, along with all-day live streaming on the Lenya Competition website.
In addition to the top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000, discretionary awards ranging from $3,500 to $5,000 recognize outstanding finals performances of individual numbers or particular aspects of performances. All semi-finalists who do not advance to the finals will receive an award of $500. Total prizes will exceed $75,000.
###
If you'd like more information about this topic, please contact Brady Sansone at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x204 or
April 16, 2019: The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music awarded $71,000 in prize money at the finals of 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition, which took place in a packed Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, on April 13. The $20,000 First Prize went to Daniel Berryman, 28, of Seattle, WA. Andrea Wozniak, 28, of Boston, MA, won the $15,000 Second Prize, and Trevor Martin, 30, of Fayetteville, GA, received Third Prize of $10,000.
Judges Adam Benzwi, Ute Gfrerer, and Mark Lamos compared the process of selecting the winners to "looking for needles in the haystack--the singing actors, the acting singers who can do it all. They are a rare breed."
In addition to top prizes, the judges bestowed discretionary awards in the amount of $3,500 each on four performers: Jeremy Weiss (26, Charlottesville, VA) received the Carolyn Weber Award in recognition of outstanding creativity in the design of a diverse program and exceptional sensitivity to text/music relationships; Katherine Riddle (28, Washington, DC) received the Marc Blitzstein Award for outstanding performance of a "Golden Age" musical theater selection for her performance of Weill’s "Mr. Right"; and Lys Symonette awards went to Nyla Watson (28, Cleveland, OH) for her performance of "Beautiful" from It Shoulda Been You and Jonah Hoskins (22, Saratoga Springs, UT) for extraordinary artistic promise.
The remaining six finalists each received an award of $2,000: Carolyn Bacon (28, Portland, OR), Danielle Beckvermit (26, Kingston, NY), Timothy Bruno (31, Toledo, OH), Jonathan Heller (24, Huntington, NY), Florian Peters (31, Rheinbreitbach, Germany), and Amy Weintraub (24, Fort Collins, CO). The total amount awarded over the course of the competition’s history now exceeds $1 million to 400+ performers.
During the daytime round, each contestant performed a program of four selections, including at least one number by Kurt Weill. All contestants returned in the evening to perform one or two selections, chosen by the judges. Both rounds were live-streamed and seen by more than 1,300 viewers in 12 countries, and 35 US states and the District of Columbia.
Berryman, who competed in the finals for the third time since 2013, "created four vivid, believable characters," according to the judges, "and we got to know Tamino, Rodney, Sammy, and Evan Hansen absolutely." Wozniak impressed the panel with her "brave choices, fearless delivery, inventive acting choices ranging from the demure to the vulnerable to the furious, fantastic vocal technique, all wrapped in a charismatic package." Martin was described by the judges as "a rare classically trained heroic baritone, perfect for the Golden Age of musical theater" who presented "risky repertoire . . . and made solid acting choices."
The winners’ performances are available to view at www.youtube.com/KurtWeillFoundation.
The 2019 competition drew 215 applicants from 21 countries, and 29 US states and Puerto Rico. In the semifinal round, 28 contestants auditioned for and received coaching from Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn and Tony Award-winning theater, film, and opera composer Jeanine Tesori.
Founded by Foundation president Kim H. Kowalke in 1998 to celebrate the centenary of Lotte Lenya’s birth, the Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in wide-ranging theatrical repertoire, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception, the LLC has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of “total-package performers” (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. Beyond the competition, the Foundation has distributed over $200,000 in support of past laureates through professional development grants and artist sponsorships.
Click on the image below for a printable image of the top Prize winners:
Caption: 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition top Prize winners (L to R): Daniel Berryman, Andrea Wozniak, Trevor Martin. Photo: Matt Wittmeyer Photography.
Click on the image below for a printable image of the Award winners:
Caption: 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition Award winners (L to R): Jonah Hoskins, Jeremy Weiss, Katherine Riddle, Nyla Watson. Photo: Matt Wittmeyer Photography.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
March 12, 2019: Kim H. Kowalke, President and CEO of the Kurt Weill Foundation, is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition. Thirteen performers will compete for top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000.
Carolyn Bacon (Portland, OR, 28)
Danielle Beckvermit (Kingston, NY, 26)
Daniel Berryman (Seattle, WA, 28)
Timothy Bruno (Toledo, OH, 31)
Jonathan Heller (Huntington, NY, 24)
Jonah Hoskins (Saratoga Springs, UT, 22)
Trevor Martin (Fayetteville, GA, 30)
Florian Peters (Rheinbreitbach, Germany, 31)
Katherine Riddle (Washington, DC, 28)
Nyla Watson (Cleveland, OH, 28)
Amy Weintraub (Fort Collins, CO, 24)
Jeremy Weiss (Charlottesville, VA, 25)
Andrea Wozniak (Boston, MA, 28)
Finals will take place on 13 April 2019 in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. Both the daytime and evening rounds are free and open to the public, and both will be live-streamed for free online viewing to audiences around the world for the first time. The stream will be accessible at https://www.esm.rochester.edu/live/kilbourn/ beginning fifteen minutes prior to the start of each round.
During the daytime round, which begins at 11:00, contestants will each perform a program consisting of four selections--one each from opera/operetta, Golden Age musical theater, contemporary musical theater, and the stage works of Kurt Weill--not to exceed fifteen minutes in length. The daytime round is the only time that performers will present their entire program, on which the majority of the judges’ decisions will be based. At 8:00 that evening, the contestants return for the concert to sing one or two selections from their programs as requested by the judges, followed by the awards ceremony. In addition to top prizes, the judges may bestow discretionary awards of $3,500 in recognition of outstanding performances of individual numbers or particular aspects of performance. All finalists will receive a minimum award of $1,000. Total prizes will again exceed $75,000.
The three-person jury for the finals includes the Austrian opera and musical theater performer and Weill specialist Ute Gfrerer, opera and musical theater conductor Adam Benzwi, and Mark Lamos, artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse.
The 2019 competition drew 215 applicants from 21 countries and 29 US states and Puerto Rico, each performing a program of four selections totaling no more than fifteen minutes each. In the semi-final round, twenty-eight contestants auditioned for and received coaching from Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn and Tony Award-winning theater, film, and opera composer Jeanine Tesori. The fifteen who did not advance to the finals received a cash award of $500 each: Lily Arbisser (Davenport, IA, 32), Brittany Baratz (Gaithersburg, MD, 32), Paula Berry (Ottawa, ON, 25), Kyle Bielfield (Miami, FL, 31), Sarah Bishop (Butler, PA, 26), Jessica Fishenfeld (Great Neck, NY, 27), Michael Hewitt (Denver, CO, 28), Suzanne Lane (Washington, DC, 28), Claire Leyden (New York, NY, 24), Scott McCreary (New York, NY, 30), Sun-Ly Pierce (Clinton, NY, 24), Claudia Roick (Schwerin, Germany, 31), Rachel Sparrow (Chicago, IL, 31), Maria Vasilevskaya (Novosibirsk, Russia, 24), Adam von Almen (Lima, OH, 32).
More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of “total-package performers” (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
February 26, 2019: The Kurt Weill Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Jesse Leong as the recipient of the Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellowship. Established in 2015 to honor Rudel’s extraordinary artistic achievements and dedication to the music of Kurt Weill, this award enables a young conductor in the early stages of a career to assist a master conductor in the preparation and performance of a work by Weill or Marc Blitzstein and expand his or her knowledge of their works. The fellowship carries a stipend of $10,000.
Leong will serve as assistant conductor to Fellowship Mentor Ted Sperling, Artistic Director of MasterVoices, for that organization’s presentation of Weill’s Lady in the Dark in April 2019 at New York City Center. Leong, age 26, completed his bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has worked as assistant conductor at Cincinnati Opera, and the Glimmerglass Festival; Interim Music Director at CCM Opera d’Arte; and currently holds the post of Associate Music Director at Queen City Opera in Cincinnati. His repertoire spans the standard operatic canon, as well as new works, and works of Golden Age and contemporary musical theater.
"I am thrilled and honored to be selected as a Julius Rudel/Kurt Weill Conducting Fellow," said Leong. "I look forward to working with Maestro Ted Sperling, Victoria Clark, and everyone at both MasterVoices and the Kurt Weill Foundation! Coming from a Broadway family myself (my father is a fight choreographer and my stepmom is a dancer/choreographer), I have always had a love and affinity for music theater." As a passionate proponent of American music, he also plans to present several recitals this year focusing on the music of "crossover" composers, including Gershwin, Bernstein, Sondheim, Bolcom, Weill, and Blitzstein.
Sperling, sharing in Leong’s enthusiasm, said, "We at MasterVoices are thrilled and grateful to be working with Jesse Leong. With his background in both opera and musical theater, he is a perfect fit for this position. Jesse will play piano for all cast rehearsals, and be a standby for me as conductor when we move into dress rehearsals and performances. As I'm both directing and conducting these performances, it's crucial to have someone I trust to listen and watch for me, as well as to step in and conduct rehearsals so I can take a longer view."
Sperling is a long-time proponent of Weill's music. As Artistic Director of MasterVoices, he has directed concert performances of Knickerbocker Holiday and conducted The Firebrand of Florence. In 2015, he conducted the U.S. premiere and world premiere recording of The Road of Promise. He has also previously served as a judge of the Lotte Lenya Competition. His history with Lady in the Dark dates back to 2001, when he directed the Prince Music Theatre production in Philadelphia. He returns to the work now eighteen years later, in a new semi-staged concert version featuring choreography by Doug Varone, and starring Tony Award-winning theater, film, and television actor and director Victoria Clark as Liza Elliott. Sperling described the performances: "Our presentation of Lady is turning out to be quite ambitious. Our collaborations with Doug Varone and Dancers, as well as our incredible design team (which include contributions from couture designers Zac Posen, Christian Cowan, and Thom Browne) are yielding very exciting results--this will be a one-of-a-kind event."
Lady in the Dark will have two performances, 25 and 26 April, at New York City Center, as part of its landmark 75th anniversary season. For more information, visit www.mastervoices.org and www.nycitycenter.org.
###
If you'd like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
February 12, 2019: Kim H. Kowalke, President and CEO of the Kurt Weill Foundation, is pleased to announce the semifinalists for the 2019 Lotte Lenya Competition.
Lily Arbisser (USA, 32)
Carolyn Bacon (USA, 28)
Brittany Baratz (USA, 32)
Danielle Beckvermit (USA, 26)
Paula Berry (Canada, 25)
Daniel Berryman (USA, 28)
Kyle Bielfield (USA, 31)
Sarah Bishop (USA, 26)
Timothy Bruno (USA, 31)
Jessica Fishenfeld (USA, 27)
Jonathan Heller (USA, 24)
Michael Hewitt (USA, 28)
Jonah Hoskins (USA, 22)
Suzanne Lane (USA, DC, 28)
Claire Leyden (USA, 24)
Trevor Martin (USA, 30)
Scott McCreary (USA, 29)
Florian Peters (Germany, 31)
Sun-Ly Pierce (USA, 24)
Katherine Riddle (USA, 27)
Claudia Roick (Germany, 30)
Rachel Sparrow (USA, 31)
Maria Vasilevskaya (Russia, 24)
Adam von Almen (USA, 32)
Nyla Watson (USA, 28)
Amy Weintraub (USA, 24)
Jeremy Weiss (USA, 25)
Andrea Wozniak (USA, 28)
In addition to the semifinalists, seven singers received Emerging Talent Awards with a cash prize of $500: Jenna Barbieri (USA, 21), Sondrine Bontemps (USA, 21), Katie Kallaus (USA, 21), Maxwell Levy (USA, 22), Lee Metaxa (USA, 19), Kaylee Terrell (USA, 19), Elsie Wagner Sherer (USA, 19). Isaac Frishman (USA, 29) received the Grace Keagy Award for Outstanding Vocal Promise in the amount of $500. The 2019 competition drew 215 applicants from 21 countries and 29 US states and Puerto Rico, each performing a program of four selections totaling no more than fifteen minutes each.
Semifinals take place on 7 and 8 March in New York. Contestants will audition for and be coached by Broadway music director and conductor Andy Einhorn and Tony Award-winning theater, film, and opera composer Jeanine Tesori. They compete for a spot in the finals, which take place on 13 April 2019 in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. The finals daytime round and evening concert are both free and open to the public. Additionally, both will be live-streamed for free online viewing, making the entire finals round available to audiences around the world for the first time. The stream will be accessible at https://www.esm.rochester.edu/live/kilbourn/. In addition to top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000, discretionary awards ranging from $3,500 to $5,000 recognize outstanding performances of individual numbers or particular aspects of performance. All semifinalists who do not advance to the finals will receive an award of $500. Total prizes for this year’s rounds will again exceed $75,000.
A distinguished roster of musical theater, opera, and Kurt Weill experts will adjudicate both rounds of the competition. This season, Einhorn leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Tucson Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in concert with Audra McDonald. Most recently he served as the Music Supervisor and Musical Director for the Broadway productions of Carousel and Hello, Dolly!, as well as the North American tour of The Sound of Music. Einhorn has served as music director and pianist for six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald since 2011.
Called "the most accomplished female composer in Broadway history," Tesori co-wrote the musical Fun Home, for which she and Lisa Kron won the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2015. Other major credits include Caroline, or Change, Violet, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Shrek, the Musical. She is currently at work with Tazewell Thompson on a new opera, Blue, which will receive its world premiere at the Glimmerglass Festival this summer. In 2018, the Metropolitan Opera announced that is has commissioned Tesori to write a new opera, Grounded, the Met’s first ever commission by a woman.
The three-person jury for the finals includes opera and musical theater performer and Weill specialist Ute Gfrerer, renowned opera and musical theater conductor Adam Benzwi, and Mark Lamos, artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse.
Internationally acclaimed singer and actor Gfrerer boasts a varied repertoire ranging from classical opera, operetta, and song to 20th-century Broadway. Born in Austria and now residing in Boston, she has performed on major stages and with leading orchestras and opera and theater companies around the world. Her Weill credits include Anna I in Die sieben Todsünden; Venus in One Touch of Venus; regular appearances at the annual Kurt Weill Fest in Dessau, Germany; and the roles of both Jenny and Polly in the highly acclaimed European touring production of Die Dreigroschenoper with Ensemble Modern, conducted by HK Gruber. She can be heard on the recently released world premiere recording of Weill's Lied vom blinden Mädchen, and on the forthcoming recording of Mahagonny Songspiel and Chansons des quais from Ensemble Modern. This spring she serves as a Kurt Weill Mentor at the University of Maryland, where she will give a master class to students performing as part of the UMD School of Music’s year-long Kurt Weill Festival.
Based in Berlin, Benzwi's credits include regular guest conducting appearances at the Komische Oper, where he has collaborated with director Barrie Kosky on numerous projects, including most recently Grand Hotel; as well as musical direction for several widely acclaimed productions at major theaters and performing venues throughout Berlin. As a highly sought-after accompanist, he has performed with Angela Winkler, Joyce DiDonato, and Gisela May. Currently, he is musical director and professor at Berlin's Universität der Künste, and a member of the panel for the German government's Bundeswettbewerb Gesang singing competition.
Tony and Emmy Award-winning director Lamos is equally at home as a director of plays, musicals, and opera. In 1989, he won the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre for his work as Artistic Director of Hartford Stage Company. His wide-ranging credits include Our Country's Good (Tony nomination), Cymbeline, and Seascape (Tony nom) for Broadway; Adriana Lecouvreur starring Placido Domingo for the Metropolitan Opera; numerous productions and world premieres for New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and San Francisco Opera. New York City Opera won an Emmy Award for the Lamos-directed Madama Butterfly, televised on PBS' "Great Performances." He was appointed Artistic Director of Westport Country Playhouse in 2009.
###
If you'd like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
November 6, 2018: The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music announced today that Ed Harsh has been appointed Director of Strategic Initiatives, effective immediately. Harsh recently concluded an eleven-year tenure as President and CEO of New Music USA, including four years as President of Meet the Composer prior to the creation of New Music USA in 2011. He began his professional career in 1992 with an eight-year tenure as the inaugural Managing Editor of the Kurt Weill Edition.
“I am delighted that Ed is rejoining our team,” said Kim H. Kowalke, President and CEO of the Foundation, “to lead the development and implementation of a dynamic strategic framework to advance the performance, visibility, and identity of Weill’s and Blitzstein’s music--at a time when their voices seem ever more relevant and essential to the world at large.” In this newly created position, Harsh will oversee promotion, marketing, and branding, as well as the incubation of special projects and collaborative performance initiatives.
One of Musical America’s Top 30 “Innovator” Professionals in 2016, Harsh’s leadership of Meet the Composer and New Music USA was characterized by innovation and reinvention, with particular emphasis on evolution of the organization’s sector-leading virtual presence. Under his leadership, New Music USA initiated a complete overhaul of its traditional grant-making process and integrated it seamlessly with a collection of new media programs into a single online platform designed to support artists in promoting their own work. He was also instrumental in growing Meet the Composer’s $3.5 million endowment at the beginning of his tenure to New Music USA’s balance of $16 million at the time of his departure.
Harsh has served as an officer on the boards of both the Performing Arts Alliance and the International Association of Music Information Centres. Previously, he served as Director of Development of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Associate Director of David Bury & Associates, and Managing Director of Sequitur new music ensemble. As a founding member of the grassroots Common Sense Composers Collective and as a composer himself, he has completed commissioned work for ensembles including the Anhaltische Philharmonie, Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, New Millennium Ensemble, and American Baroque. His published writings range from essays on music to musical editions, including The Threepenny Opera. His music has been recorded commercially on the Albany, Santa Fe New Music, CRI, and Neuma labels.
Harsh commented: “I have always believed that Kurt Weill’s music and ideas have a continuing and powerful role to play in contemporary culture and I am eagerly looking forward to working with my colleagues at the Kurt Weill Foundation to inspire performances and recordings and increase familiarity with the legacies of Weill and Blitzstein.”
Concurrent with his Weill Foundation role, Harsh is engaged in a personal book project using Kurt Weill’s work as a lens through which to examine the topic of artistic responsibility.
###
If you'd like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
April 17, 2018: The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music awarded a record $99,000 at the 2018 Lotte Lenya Competition, which took place in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY on April 14, 2018. This year's Competition brought the total distributed to young singers to more than $1 million in awards, prizes, and grants in the twenty-year history of the contest.
The judges--Tony Award-winning actress Victoria Clark, Encores! Artistic director Jack Viertel, UK conductor James Holmes--found the field of fifteen finalists so evenly matched that, after long deliberation, they decided to name three $15,000 winners and three $10,000 winners rather than the usual first, second, and third prizes. An additional $14,000 in discretionary awards was presented to four performers.
John Brancy (29, Mullica Hill, NJ), Caroline Hewitt (26, Houston, TX), and Laura Corina Sanders (23, San Francisco, CA) each were awarded $15,000. Christian Hoff (25, Towson, MD), Reilly Nelson (28, Sault Ste. Marie, ON), and Philip Stoddard (26, Phoenix, AZ) took home $10,000 each. The three $15,000 winners impressed the judges with their vocal prowess, dramatic risk-taking, and canny choices of repertory. The $10,000 winners were recognized for their credibility of characterization, fluency in multiple languages, and idiomatic renditions of diverse repertory.
Discretionary awards in the amount of $3,500 apiece were given to four singers for a notable aspect of their programs or performances. Christof Messner, 31, of Vienna, Austria, received the Carolyn Weber Award for outstanding creativity in the design of a diverse program and exceptional sensitivity to text/music relationships; Richard Glöckner, 23, of Salzburg, Austria, won a Lys Symonette Award ($3,500) for his imaginative presentation of "Bilbao Song" from Happy End. Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod, 30, of Tel Aviv, Israel, received a Lys Symonette Award for her riveting performance of "Lied der Lulu." Nkrumah Gatling, 32, of Houston, TX, received the Marc Blitzstein Award for his moving rendition of "The Hills of Ixopo" from Lost in the Stars. All other finalists--Christine Amon (31, Grand Rapids, MI), Daniel Berryman (27, New York, NY), Andrea Lett (27, Winnipeg, MB), Benjamin Pattison (27, Arlington, VA), and John Tibbetts (27, Tifton, GA)--received $2,000. Victoria Clark summarized the judges' quandary in picking winners: "All of these young artists are already well on their way to varied careers."
During the daytime round, each of the fifteen contestants performed a program of four selections from the operatic, "Golden Age," and contemporary musical theater repertoires, including at least one number by Kurt Weill. All contestants returned in the evening to perform a single selection, chosen by the judges from their afternoon programs. The evening round was live-streamed and viewed remotely by more than 1,000 households.
The evening also honored conductor James Holmes with the Foundation's Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award in recognition of his career-spanning dedication to the music of Weill, as well as his commitment to idiomatic performance of both musical theater and opera. Foundation Board Chair Theodore S. Chapin presented the award to Holmes and noted that "he has conducted more repertory by Kurt Weill around the world than any conductor previously, even Weill's own conductor of choice, Maurice Abravanel." In accepting the award, Holmes acknowledged Weill as "the man whose work embodies everything that is great about music in the theater: his range, his style, and above all his humanity." Holmes joins the distinguished roster of previous Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award winners which includes Maurice Abravanel (1990), Teresa Stratas (1998), and Julius Rudel (2000).
Founded by Foundation president Kim H. Kowalke in 1998 to celebrate the centenary of Lotte Lenya's birth, the Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in wide-ranging theatrical repertoire, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception, the LLC has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of “total-package performers” (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100 laureates, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers.
The winners' performances are available for viewing at the Foundation's Youtube channel.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
March 14, 2018: Kim H. Kowalke, President of the Kurt Weill Foundation, has announced the finalists for the 2018 annual Lotte Lenya Competition in its twentieth anniversary year. Fifteen performers from Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, and the United States will compete for top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000.
Christine Amon (31, Grand Rapids, MI)
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod (30, Tel Aviv, Israel)
Daniel Berryman (27, New York, NY)
John Brancy (29, Mullica Hill, NJ)
Nkrumah Gatling (32, Houston, TX)
Richard Glöckner (23, Salzburg, Austria)
Caroline Hewitt (26, Houston, TX)
Christian Hoff (25, Towson, MD)
Andrea Lett (27, Winnipeg, MB, Canada)
Christof Messner (31, Vienna, Austria)
Reilly Nelson (28, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada)
Benjamin Pattison (27, Arlington, VA)
Laura Sanders (23, San Francisco, CA)
Philip Stoddard (26, Phoenix, AZ)
John Tibbetts (27, Tifton, GA)
Finals take place on 14 April at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and are open to the public. The evening concert, beginning at 8:00 p.m. and followed immediately by the awards presentation, will be live-streamed for free online viewing. Information about where and when to watch will be published closer to the date.
All contestants will perform a program of four selections from the operatic, "Golden Age," and contemporary musical theater repertoires, including, of course, at least one number by Kurt Weill. Their performances will be adjudicated by a star-studded jury composed of Tony Award-winning actress and singer Victoria Clark, renowned opera and musical theater conductor James Holmes, and Jack Viertel, Broadway producer, author, and Artistic Director of New York City Center Encores!
The finalists represent a diverse and highly accomplished group of versatile performers, many of whom have already embarked on major performing careers, including two current members of the United States Army Chorus (Hoff and Pattison), with multiple Broadway, national tour, opera, and concert credits with major companies and performing venues around the world. Several contestants return to the finals for a second time: Amon (2012), Ben-gur Akselrod (2017, Special Award), Berryman (2013), Nelson (2016, Carolyn Weber Award), and Brancy, who in 2008 received a Lys Symonette Award for Prodigious Vocal Promise at the age of 19.
An initial pool of 235 contestants submitted audition videos; that group was winnowed down to twenty-eight semifinalists, who auditioned live last week in New York City for judges Lisa Vroman and Jeanine Tesori. Vroman and Tesori also coached each of the contestants individually. Vroman said of the experience, "Our goal is to inspire each participant to be the best singer/actor they possibly can, and to give equal emphasis to both."
The finals judges also bring their multi-faceted experience to bear. Broadway, film, and television actress and director Clark returns as judge for the fourth time. Perhaps best known for her Tony Award-winning portrayal of Margaret in The Light in the Piazza, her recent work includes Sara Jane Moore in Assassins (City Center Encores! Off-Center), Tony nominations for her roles in Gigi and Cinderella, and directing Newton's Cradle, for which she won the New York Musical Festival Best Director Award. Holmes’s wide-ranging credits include work in major opera houses and theaters around the world, with a particular focus on the music of Weill. This season, he leads the German stage premiere of Weill's Love Life at Theater Freiburg, a production which stars two past Lenya Competition winners in the leading roles, Rebecca Jo Loeb (1st Prize, 2008) and David Arnsperger (2nd Prize, 2010). He previously held the posts of Head of Music at English National Opera and Opera North, where this season he is music director for Kiss Me, Kate! 2018 marks his sixth appearance as a finals judge. At City Center, Viertel has overseen fifty-two productions, including Weill's Lost in the Stars and Blitzstein's Juno. Additionally, he is senior vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters on Broadway and the author of The Secret Life of the American Musical, published in 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This is his first time judging the Competition.
In addition to the top prizes, individual awards of $3,500 may be bestowed at the judges' discretion in recognition of outstanding performances of individual numbers or excellence in a particular genre or aspect of performance. The Kurt Weill Award of $5,000 may be given for an outstanding performance of two contrasting numbers by Weill. All finalists will receive at least $1,000. Total prizes will exceed $75,000.
Founded by Kowalke in 1998 to celebrate the centenary of Lotte Lenya's birth, the Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in wide-ranging theatrical repertoire, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception, the Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of "total-package performers" (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100 laureates, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
February 13, 2018: Kim H. Kowalke, President of the Kurt Weill Foundation, has announced the semifinalists for the 2018 annual Lotte Lenya Competition, its twentieth anniversary year. The Foundation received 235 audition videos, from singer/actors ages 19-32, hailing from thirty-one U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and sixteen countries on five continents. From that pool, fourteen men and fourteen women from the U.S., Canada, Austria, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Slovenia have been selected to perform at the semifinals at the Manhattan School of Music on 8 and 9 March.
Christine Amon (31, Michigan)
Carly Augenstein (28, Ohio)
Curtis Bannister (32, Wisconsin)
Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod (30, Israel)
Abigail Benke (24, Missouri)
Jason Berger (26, Delaware)
Daniel Berryman (27, New York)
John Brancy (29, Pennsylvania)
Maire Carmack (24, Colorado)
Caitlin Finnie (23, Texas)
Nkrumah Gatling (32, New York)
Richard Glöckner (23, Germany)
Anthony Heinemann (30, Missouri)
Caroline Hewitt (26, Texas)
Christian Hoff (24, Maryland)
Gabrielle Hondorp (20, New York)
Mark Hosseini (23, Illinois)
Barrie Kreinik (32, New York)
Andrea Lett (27, Manitoba)
Christof Messner (31, Italy)
Reilly Nelson (28, Ontario)
Benjamin Pattison (27, Virginia)
Laura Sanders (23, California)
Luke Sikora (29, California)
Philip Stoddard (26, Arizona)
John Tibbetts (27, Kansas)
Rachel Zatcoff (30, New York)
Andreja Zidaric (29, Slovenia)
This year's semifinals judges are stage, opera, and concert performer Lisa Vroman and Tony Award-winning theater and film composer Jeanine Tesori. Each contestant will perform a fifteen-minute program of repertoire from the operatic, golden age, and contemporary musical theater stages, and the music of Kurt Weill, and then receive a fifteen-minute coaching session with that day's judge. The top-rated performers will then proceed to the Competition finals, where they will sing for another star-studded jury comprised of Tony Award-winning actress and singer Victoria Clark, renowned opera and musical theater conductor James Holmes, and Jack Viertel, Broadway producer, author, and Artistic Director of New York City Center Encores! Finals take place on 14 April at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and are open to the public. The evening concert will be live-streamed for free on-line viewing. Information about where and when to watch will be published closer to the date.
In addition to the semifinalists, seven contestants were recognized with Emerging Talent Awards of $500 each: Keenan Buckley, Emily Harkins, Marlene Jubelius, Sarah Jane Juliano, Claire Leyden, Grace Roberts, and Trevor Todd. Shannon Jennings received the Grace Keagy Award of $500 for Outstanding Vocal Promise. All semifinalists receive a cash award of $500. Those who advance to the finals will compete for top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000, and individual discretionary awards of $3,500 and $5,000. All finalists will receive a minimum of $1,000. Total prizes will exceed $75,000.
Founded by Kowalke in 1998 to celebrate the centenary of Lotte Lenya's birth, the Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in wide ranging theatrical repertoire, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill. Since its inception, the LLC has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of "total-package performers" (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
January 26, 2018: Kim H. Kowalke, President and CEO of the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, is pleased to announce the election of composer and conductor HK Gruber as an Honorary Lifetime Trustee of the charitable organization entrusted with Weill's legacy. The honor, given on the occasion of Gruber's 75th birthday, recognizes his unrivaled contributions over several decades to the performance and understanding of Weill's music and its ongoing impact on the composition of new music.
Gruber first encountered Weill's music in the 1970s via a recording of his symphonies; he recalls: "I discovered Weill when I was twenty, and step by step I developed great admiration for this unmistakable, many-sided composer and his musical and universal intelligence." When Gruber later signed with classical music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, he formed a close personal friendship with Weill expert David Drew, then its Head of Contemporary Music.
A consummate performer of Weill's music, both as conductor and vocalist, Gruber's affinity for Weill is evident in his own compositions. In its review of the world premiere of his Piano Concerto (2017), The New York Times noted, "Weill's ingenious merging of contemporary and cabaret styles remains a model for composers like Mr. Gruber." In a recent interview with TheArtsDesk.com, Gruber acknowledged the importance of Weill's influence on his own music, calling Weill and Hanns Eisler his two "forefathers," stating: "What I learnt from Eisler and Weill is how it is possible to simplify the musical language without losing the symphonic quality."
Kowalke said, "Gruber's performances and recordings as conductor and singer have set the gold standard for this repertory, and his championing of Weill's lesser-known works has introduced them to a new audience. His own oeuvre as a composer evinces the remarkable resonance Weill's music and esthetic still finds in a postmodern global musical landscape."
Gruber's landmark appearances as conductor of Weill's music include numerous iterations of Die sieben Todsünden, Kleine Dreigroschenmusik, Symphony No. 1, and Symphony No. 2 with ensembles around the world; countless performances of Die Dreigroschenoper, including the 2009 tour starring Angelika Kirchschlager and Ian Bostridge with Klangforum Wien, and a concert presentation with Ensemble Modern, Max Raabe, Ute Gfrerer, and Sona MacDonald at the 2015 Salzburg Festival; and Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival. He performs frequently at the annual Kurt Weill Fest in Dessau, Germany. On 15 and 17 February, he leads the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in a performance of selections from Der Silbersee.
His recordings include the definitive Die Dreigroschenoper (Ensemble Modern, Nina Hagen, Max Raabe); Berlin im Licht (Ensemble Modern); and Charming Weill: Dance Band Arrangements with Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester. Two more recordings are forthcoming this year: Gruber reteamed with the Ensemble Modern for the premiere recordings of the critical edition of Mahagonny Songspiel and Chansons des quais, along with Kleine Dreigroschenmusik; and the forthcoming film Mackie Messer: Brechts Dreigroschenoper (Süddeutsche Rundfunk, 18 March 2018), featuring Gruber conducting portions of Die Dreigroschenoper on its soundtrack, of which the film's producers also plan a commercial CD release.
Responding to his election, Gruber said, "Now with this birthday present I have the pleasure to belong to the Weill family. I promise I will make the most of it!" Gruber joins a small but distinguished roster of honorary trustees, including Teresa Stratas, James Conlon, Stephen Davis, and Drew.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
January 10, 2018: Kim H. Kowalke, President and CEO of the Kurt Weill Foundation, has announced the judges for the 20th Anniversary Lotte Lenya Competition. A distinguished panel will preside over the finals on 14 April in Rochester, NY: Tony Award-winning actress and singer Victoria Clark, renowned opera and musical theater conductor James Holmes, and Jack Viertel, Broadway producer, author, and Artistic Director of New York City Center Encores!
Broadway, film, and television actress and director Clark returns as judge for the fourth time. Perhaps best known for her Tony-winning portrayal of Margaret in The Light in the Piazza, her recent work includes Sara Jane Moore in Assassins (City Center Encores! Off-Center), Tony nominations for her roles in Gigi, the Musical and Cinderella, and directing Newton's Cradle, for which she won the New York Musical Festival Best Director Award.
Holmes’s wide-ranging credits include work in major opera houses and theaters around the world, with a particular focus on the music of Weill. This season, he leads the German stage premiere of Weill's Love Life at Theater Freiburg, a production which stars two past Lenya Competition winners in the leading roles, Rebecca Jo Loeb (1st Prize, 2008) and David Arnsperger (2nd Prize, 2010). He previously held the posts of Head of Music at English National Opera and Opera North, where this season he is music director for Kiss Me, Kate! 2018 marks his sixth appearance as a Lenya judge.
At City Center, Viertel has overseen fifty-two productions, including Weill's Lost in the Stars and Blitzstein's Juno. Additionally, he is senior vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters on Broadway and the author of The Secret Life of the American Musical, published in 2016 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This is his first time judging the Competition.
Semifinalists will audition for and be coached by stage, opera, and concert performer Lisa Vroman and Tony Award-winning theater and film composer Jeanine Tesori. Vroman is no stranger to the music of Kurt Weill, having performed Lucy Brown in The Threepenny Opera and Anna I in The Seven Deadly Sins; she is currently performing with the ongoing Music Unwound "Kurt Weill's America" project. She also sang the role of Birdie in Blitzstein's Regina at Utah Opera in 2009. Called "the most accomplished female composer in Broadway history," Tesori co-wrote the musical Fun Home, for which she and Lisa Kron won the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2015. Other major credits include Caroline, or Change, Violet, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Shrek, the Musical. She is the founding artistic director of City Center Encores! Off-Center.
Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition has grown into an internationally recognized leader in identifying and nurturing the next generation of "total-package performers" (Opera News) and rising stars in both the opera and musical theater worlds. The roster of prizewinners has likewise grown to over 100, many of whom have gone on to major performing careers. With top prizes of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000, total prizes will exceed $75,000.
Semifinals take place on 8 & 9 March 2018 at Manhattan School of Music. Finals will be held on 14 April 2018 in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. The daytime round and evening concert are both free and open to the public. The evening concert will be live-streamed for free online viewing. Information about where and when to watch will be published on www.kwf.org closer to the date.
The deadline to apply is 22 January 2018. The competition is open to singer/actors of all nationalities, ages 19-32 (born after April 15, 1985 and before January 21, 1999). For complete guidelines, tips, repertoire suggestions, and insights from previous winners, visit www.kwf.org/llc.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
October 31, 2017: In a remarkable find, a previously unknown composition by Kurt Weill was recently discovered in a Berlin archive. The three-page manuscript in the composer's hand bears the peculiar title "Lied vom weißen Käse" ("Song of the White Cheese," lyric by Günther Weisenborn). Weill composed it for his wife, the singer-actress Lotte Lenya, for performance in a political revue produced to benefit unemployed actors of the Berlin Volksbühne in November 1931. Other prominent contributors to this revue included Bertolt Brecht, Hanns Eisler, and Friedrich Hollaender. In the 1960s, Lenya made an attempt to find the song, which she remembered under the title "Song of the blind maiden." When her search yielded no results, she lamented the loss of the music: "Nowhere to be found. Probably buried in some basement." According to Foundation President Kim Kowalke, this vintage, politically engaged song dating from the apex of Weill's career in Germany, will soon be published and recorded.
"Although the discovery is small in terms of the song’s length, it is truly sensational," commented musicologist Elmar Juchem, Managing Editor of the Kurt Weill Edition, who was able to identify Weill's manuscript while conducting archival work in Berlin. "Nobody believed that something completely unknown by Weill could still surface, let alone from his Berlin heyday." Juchem came across the song in the archives of the department of theater studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. While examining documents related to Weill's music for the play Happy End (1929), he inquired whether the university held any other Weill-related materials. Archivist Peter Jammerthal pulled a number of programs, photos, and press clippings, and then retrieved the hitherto unidentified music manuscript. The neatly written holograph score resides among the papers of a relatively obscure actress named Gerda Schaefer, whose documents came to the Freie Universität several years ago. Schaefer was an ensemble member of the Volksbühne in the early 1930s.
The song, sung by the character of a blind girl, tells of an evangelical preacher's unsuccessful attempt to heal her with "white cheese." The lyric refers to Joseph Weißenberg (1855–1941), a well-known faith healer in Berlin during the Weimar Republic, whose preferred method of healing was "cottage cheese and two Our-Fathers." In the composition, Weill interpolates phrases from the popular Lutheran chorale "So nimm denn meine Hände" ("Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me"), to grotesque and comical effect. The song ends with the girl speculating that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if everybody were blind, so that nobody would have to see "what's currently going on in this world." At the time of the composition, the world had begun to feel the Great Depression and Germany's political situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse. A new series appearing on German cable TV (and soon to be released on Netflix), Babylon Berlin, depicts this very time in Germany's history. The show features Weill's music in at least one episode, including a reenactment of the original production of Die Dreigroschenoper from 1928. Then as now, Weill's music indelibly captures the sonic world of the Weimar period and remains an iconic representation of that era.
Chronologically speaking, the newly discovered song belongs to the phase of Weill's career when he had just concluded the composition of his grand opera Die Bürgschaft ("The Pledge"), which would receive its world premiere in Berlin in March 1932. At the same time, Weill was frantically preparing a production of his opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny for another Berlin stage in December 1931. In the years between 1927 and 1931, Weill composed incidental music for a number of productions written or staged by Lion Feuchtwanger, Bertolt Brecht, Arnolt Bronnen, and Erwin Piscator.
Kurt Weill (1900-1950) is best known as the composer of The Threepenny Opera (1928). Following the rise of the Nazis, he emigrated to France in 1933, and then to the United States in 1935, where he made a career composing Broadway musicals, and was a key influence on the works of Leonard Bernstein, John Kander and Fred Ebb, and Stephen Sondheim.
A three-volume critical edition of one of his central works, Lady in the Dark (1940, book by Moss Hart, music and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Weill), will be published in November. On 9 December, the German-language premiere of Weill's Love Life (1948, book by Alan Jay Lerner, lyrics and music by Lerner and Weill) takes place at Theater Freiburg.
Download press release (English version)
Download press release (Deutsche Fassung)
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .
October 3, 2017: The 2017 Kurt Weill Prize for an outstanding book in music theater since 1900 has been awarded to Agnes de Mille: Telling Stories in Broadway Dance, by Kara Anne Gardner, published in the Oxford University Press Broadway Legacy Series, 2016. Offering readers an in-depth study of de Mille's ground-breaking choreographic work on the Broadway stage, the book includes a chapter on her involvement in the original production of One Touch of Venus (1943), by S.J. Perelman (book), Ogden Nash (book and lyrics), and Weill (music), and which starred Mary Martin in the title role. Gardner demonstrates how Weill and de Mille's similar views about the use of music (for Weill) and dance (for de Mille) as a means of storytelling made them especially compatible as collaborators. Gardner writes of their interactions, "She also found Kurt Weill, who treated her like an equal, to be a perfect partner." Adjudicated by a panel of music and theater experts, the award carries with it a cash prize of $5,000. The panelists described Gardner’s work as "a model of musical theater scholarship," and "a very impressive and important book that forcefully establishes Agnes de Mille's unique importance in Broadway theatre."
The $2,000 prize for an article recognized "Popularization or Perversion?: Folklore and Folksong in Britten's Paul Bunyan" by Suzanne Robinson, published in American Music in 2016. The prize panelists selected Robinson's article from a pool of fifty-two nominees, noting that it "illuminates a really significant issue within an important and unusual work." Robinson is an honorary fellow at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.
Awarded biennially by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, the Kurt Weill Prizes recognize distinguished scholarship in music theater since 1900, including opera and dance. Books and articles published in 2015-2016 were eligible for the 2017 prize. Nominations were reviewed and the winning titles selected by a panel of music and theater experts. Past winners and guidelines for nominations for the 2019 prize can be found here.
###
If you’d like more information about this topic, please contact Elizabeth Blaufox at the Kurt Weill Foundation: (212) 505-5240 x210 or .