2021 Pasadena Vocal Competition winner baritone Blake Denson. [Photo courtesy of the Pasadena Vocal Competition]
The competition is organized by the Pasadena Vocal Competition, a non-profit organization that aims to promote community interest and enjoyment of opera by financially supporting rising opera stars. The winners of the competition receive over $20,000 in cash prizes, funded by the Pasadena Area Opera Trust.
The competition’s artistic director and pianist, Cathy Miller, emphasizes the difficulty of opera as an art form, noting that it requires exceptional multitasking skills from singers.
“It’s really one of the most challenging classical music art forms to execute at a high standard because there’s not just a symphony orchestra involved — there are singers without microphones, costumes, singing from memory, props,” Cathy Miller, the organization’s artistic director and pianist, told the Pasadena Weekly.
The event will feature a panel of esteemed judges, including Josh Shaw, the executive director of Pacific Opera Project, Daniel Mallampalli, senior programming manager at the LA Philharmonic, Jamie Chamberlin, soprano and artistic advisor of the Pasadena Vocal Competition, Kostis Protopapas, artistic and general director of Opera Santa Barbara, and Alfrelynn Roberts, associate artistic director and chorus master at Fort Worth Opera.
The competition is expected to be a thrilling and exciting event for both participants and audience members. Opera fans and music lovers alike should mark their calendars for this year’s final-round concert and experience the next generation of talented opera singers.
