University of South Alabama Department of Music alumnus Andre Chiang of Mobile won the Arkansas District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday, January 15. Chiang, a 2008 graduate of USA, will compete in the Mid-South Regional Met Auditions on Saturday, February 5, in Memphis, Tennessee.

While at USA, Chiang was part of the Mobile Opera Developing Artist Program and performed three roles with the company. He was the winner of the LaGrange Symphony Young Artist Competition, the Verdi Award winner in the Orpheus Vocal Competition at Middle Tennessee State University, 1st place winner at Alabama NATS, and performed the role of Belcore in USA Opera Theatre's production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. He was a voice student in the studio of Dr. Thomas Rowell, Coordinator of Vocal Studies and Director of USA Opera Theatre.

Mr. Chiang completed a Master's Degree in Voice Performance in 2010 at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, New York, where he sang principal roles in two mainstage productions and studied voice with renowned Metropolitan Opera baritone Mark Oswalt. He was also chosen as the winner of the Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition at the Manhattan School of Music, and will perform with the Manhattan School Orchestra on January 28th. He was also a finalist in the Liederkranz Foundation Lieder/Artsong Competition as well as the national winner of the Franco-American Vocal Academy Grand Concours de Chant Competition in 2010.

Currently, Andre is a Resident Young Artist with Shreveport Opera in Shreveport, Louisiana. He will perform as Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, and as Sciarrone in Puccini's Tosca. He performed the role of Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Tuscia Opera Festival in Viterbo, Italy in 2009, and was also a Young Artist with Opera Theatre of St. Louis during the summer of 2010.