Gerald recently received an invitation to judge the preliminary round of the Denver Lyric Opera Guild competition. So, off he went last week to a very cold city last to spend a day hearing 36 singers with fellow judges John Baril, music director of the Central City Opera, and Gayle Shay, director of opera at Vanderbilt University. During their conference following the competition, all three shared their impressions of the performers, helped one another understand shared reservations about some of the singers, and finally ranked the contestants. They also talked about current expectations for auditioning singers at festivals like Central City, and even broached the topic of the occasionally uneasy relationship between academic performance programs and the professional world.
Perhaps the most rewarding part of the day was meeting with the contestants after the results were announced. Gerald shared his thoughts with each singer about his/her audition, and also heard from many of them about their own aspirations and challenges.
(Disclaimer: this post is not associated with any published communication of the Denver Lyric Opera Guild.)
Spacious Vision 