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Announcing the Winners of the The finals of the third biennial Young American Singer Competition, co-sponsored by the American Bach Society and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, PA, were held on Sunday, May 16, 2004 at Wesley Methodist Church in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. 78 singers, 30 years of age or younger submitted applications and ten finalists from six states were chosen by David Gordon, Education Director, Vocal Coordinator and Master Class Director of the Carmel Bach Festival in California. The ten finalists came to Bethlehem to sing for the judges and each performed two Bach arias of his/her choice. The five judges included Greg Funfgeld, artistic director and conductor of The Bach Choir of Bethlehem; Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano; William Sharp, baritone, a member of the faculty at The Peabody Conservatory; Dr. Melvin Unger, executive director of the Riemenschneider Institute; and Frederick Urrey, tenor, of Rutgers University.
Stacy Mastrian, soprano, received her B.M. in vocal performance from the Catholic University of America, her M.M. in opera performance from the University of Maryland and her D.M.A. in vocal performance also from the University of Maryland. Her teachers include Martha Randall, Elizabeth Daniels, Joan Logue, and Frederick Petrich. Ms. Mastrian was the winner of a Fulbright grant and Frank Huntington Beebe Fellowship to study voice in Italy in 2002-03 and winner of the Vocal Arts Society Art Song Discovery Series in 2003-04. Recent opera roles have included Julie Schumann in Clara and Amor/Damigella in L'incoronazione di Poppea for the Maryland Opera Studio, and she was an oratorio soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass and Bach's Cantata 140 with the Nova Amadeus Orchestra in Rome in 2003. Ms. Mastrian's recitals have included Momento Musicale at Il Pitigliani in Rome and a Gala Concert for the European Fulbright Convention at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. Michelle Rice, mezzo-soprano, received her B.M. in vocal performance from the University of Washington and her M.M. in opera performance from the University of Maryland Opera Studio, where she was awarded a graduate assistantship. Her teachers include Delores Ziegler, Carmen Pelton and Erich Parce. She has performed the roles of Clara in Clara and Serse in Serse at the Maryland Opera Studio and will be performing Irene in Tamerlano for Opera Vivente in the 2004-05 season. Other recent performances include Mozart's Coronation Mass and Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra. |
Nathan Davis, tenor, was awarded first prize, which includes a career development grant in the amount of $3,000 and a performance at The Bethlehem Bach Festival in May, 2005. In addition, honorable mentions were awarded to soprano Stacey Mastrian and mezzo-soprano Michele Rice. This includes a cash award of $500. Nathan Davis, tenor, received his B.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois where he studied with Mark Elyn and Barrington Coleman and his M.M. in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College of Rider University where he studied with Joseph Flummerfelt, James Jordan and Marvin Keenze. Mr. Davis was a semi-finalist in the New York Oratorio Society Young Artists Competition and winner of the Haddonfield Choral Society Young Artists Competition. Recent performances have included Bach's Saint John Passion and Mass in B Minor with Fuma Sacra in Princeton NJ, and Handel's Judas Maccabaeus with Bachworks, New York, and Messiah with Trinity Choir, WQXR, New York. Future engagements include Haydn's Mariazeller Messe with the Trinity Choir and Handel's Israel in Egypt for Bachworks and the Masterwork Chorus, Morristown NJ. Mr. Davis is the founder and director of the Young New Yorkers' Chorus, which made its Merkin Concert Hall debut in May, 2004.