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Jubal Joslyn and Cecilia Violetta Lopez were named winners of the 2012 Utah District Auditions of the Metropolitan Opera National Council (MONC) held in Salt Lake City on January 7.
The competition included 27 singers and was held in Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah Campus.
Each of the two Utah District winners received a cash prize of $1,000 and will compete with the winners of the Colorado-Wyoming District auditions at the Rocky Mountain Regional auditions on Sunday, January 29 in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver.
Region winners will receive a cash prize and be sponsored to go to New York in March for the National Council Auditions Semi-Finals. There, they will sing in a closed competition, accompanied by piano on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, for a place as a National Council Auditions Finalist. The Finalists will then perform at the Grand Finals Concert on the stage of
the Metropolitan Opera, and up to five singers will be selected as National Council Auditions Winners. The Winners will each receive a $15,000 prize.
Jubal Joslyn, a 22 year-old tenor and native of Imprerial, Nebraska, is a student at Brigham Young University who earned a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance in December 2011. He was featured in numerous performances with BYU Opera during the past several years as well as some special performances of Utah Lyric Opera.
Cecilia Violetta Lopez, a 29 year-old soprano and native of Rupert, Idaho, achieved a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2011.
The judges also awarded two $500 Encouragement awards to Dominick Chenes and Michelle Alexander making a special point to describe the encouragement award not as a 'consolation prize' but as encouragement for performers who, they believe, hold special promise and they expect to hear again in the future.
Dominick Chenes, a 27 year-old tenor from Las Vegas, Nevada, is a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; he was also a 2008-09 member of Utah Opera's Resident Artist Program.
Michelle Alexander, a 25 year-old native of Salt Lake City, Utah is a student at the University of Utah pursuing a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance.