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Brownlee Chosen as Winner of Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions

posted Oct 25, 2010 10:45 AM by Ward Miller
The University of South Alabama Department of Music is pleased to announce that Nicholas Brownlee, a 21 year-old junior Vocal Performance major, was chosen as one of six winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the New Orleans District on Saturday,October 23, 2010 at Tulane University.  Brownlee, a bass-baritone, was chosen from an audition slate of thirty-five singers from across the United States, and will proceed to the Gulf Coast Regional Finals on January 23, 2010.  The winner of the regional finals will advance to the National Semi-Finals competition in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. The auditions are held annually in fourteen Regions of the United States and Canada. Many of the world’s foremost singers, among them Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick have received awards from the National Council. Annually, approximately 100 former auditioners appear in Metropolitan Opera productions.

Mr. Brownlee is a native of Mobile, and studies voice with Dr. Thomas L. Rowell, Area Coordinator for Vocal Studies and Director of USA's Opera and Musical Theatre.