Held at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, the competition spans a weekend, with both semi-finals and finals open to the public, and is FREE, due to a generous grant from The Helena Foundation, Jim and Sylvia Earl.
Saturday, April 29, 2017: Semi-Finals
Sunday, April 30 at 3 PM: Finals
Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase Street, Annapolis, MD
Eligibility, Requirements & Procedures
Application deadline is midnight March 4, 2017.
Applications must be submitted online.
A $30 non-refundable application fee is required.
Important Dates
January 1, 2017 – Applications OPEN
March 4, 2017 – Applications CLOSED
March 7, 2017 – Noon Deadline for Receipt of Preliminary round CD’s or Electronic submissions
March 10, 2017 – Preliminary Round.
March 17, 2017 – Semi-Finalists notified
April 29, 2017 – Semi-Final Round
April 30, 2017- Finals Round
Prizes
Prizes total more than $10,000, with each finalist receiving from $500 to $3,500.
Eligibility
Applicants must be at least 20 and no more than 35 years of age as of April 1 of the contest year and not under professional management.
Applicants must be residents, students or working in Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia or New Jersey. Applicants must be available in person for both the SEMI-FINAL and FINAL Rounds.
Previous first-place winners of the Competition are not eligible to enter.
Requirements
PRELIMINARY Round is by CD, MP3 or YouTube submission only. The submission must contain a minimum of three, maximum of five arias. Repertoire for this round need not be the same as for the SEMI-FINAL and FINAL Rounds. More than one language is preferred, but English is not a requirement for the preliminaries. For electronic submissions, please include your name and the aria name in the link. For CDs, list arias in the order in which they appear on the CD and be sure to test the CD before sending it. The Preliminary round will be a “blind” review in which applicants will be identified only by application number and voice type.
SEMI-FINAL and FINAL Rounds: All applicants must submit a list of five memorized operatic arias. All arias must be in their original language and key. At least three different languages must be represented, including English.
Arias must be contrasting in style, tempi and range and no more than five minutes in length. The judges may interrupt arias lasting longer than five minutes.
Annapolis Opera will provide the accompanist for the Semi-Final Round and Finals Round.
Dress for contestants in SEMI-FINALS is business attire: Men – suit; Women – suit or business dress.
Dress for contestants in FINALS is formal: Men – tuxedo; Women – long gown.
To APPLY NOW, please visit the Annapolis Opera audition page.
