What a fun evening! I was sitting in row D, so I was up fairly close. I was sitting next to Michael Dailey and his lovely companion Amy, and enjoyed chatting with them, along with other friends and colleagues.
So drum roll …
♫ Third Place: Jerett Gieseler, baritone
♫ Second Place: Jonathan Beyer, baritone
♫ First Place: Danielle Talamantes, soprano
♫ Wagner Award: Silas Elash, bass
♫ Audience Award: Danielle Talamantes
I really enjoyed the whole evening but for one thing; I really hate hearing the results! I just want to enjoy the music. I guess I’m not one for winners, because it means some are losers too. And I hate that. I’m just a big wimpy girl who wants everyone to win, I guess!
But aside from that, I had such a great time.
There were some things I think some coaches could say to the singers about appearance and stage presence, but considering the fact that I’m a mere oboist, I’m not going to name names or even talk about what I saw. I don’t like being catty.
I did wonder about the music choices. On my program I noted what each singer chose to sing from their list (there were lists of five or six works for each singer), and then what the judges had them sing following that. The majority of the time I preferred what the judges asked them to sing. I didn’t care for a few of the pieces at all, and I had to really work on not judging the person merely because I didn’t like a particular composer. Maybe I’ll compile the list later and show you what everyone sang. Right now I’m too fried to type any more!
But anyhoo … what a fun night, and congratulations to ALL the singers, as well as their collaborative pianist, Daniel Lockert!
