The annual Maryland Vocal Competition has become one of the best tickets in town over the past several seasons.
Last Saturday at St. John's College, eight singers -- three sopranos, three mezzos, one tenor and one bass all under the age of 32 and studying in Maryland -- put on a show for judges Ava Shields, Richard Higgins, Loraine Bernstein, Ronald Gretz, Braxton Peters and the dozen other hearty souls who braved the snow and cold out of their love for opera.
It was the seventh installment in the series sponsored by the Annapolis Opera.
Taewon Yi Kim, 28, a Korean mezzo-soprano studying at Baltimore's Peabody Conservatory with the superb tenor Stanley Cornett walked away with the $750 first prize provided by the Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust. Aesthetic justice was served by her selection, for Ms. Kim was indeed the most polished contestant.
Hers is a rich, creamy mezzo voice that retains its luster even at the extremes of her range. Her "Parto, parto" from Mozart's grossly undervalued "La Clemenza di Tito" was certainly elegant if a a tad monochromatic. She clinched her triumph with a remarkable display of vocal character in the fiendishly difficult "Artist's Aria" from Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos."
Another striking mezzo, Mary Ann Stewart of Silver Spring, took the $500 second prize with ably sung arias by Massenet and Mozart. Different selections, though, might have yielded different results. Impressive as she sounded, if she's a Cherubino with that sultry voice, I'm the Queen of the Night.
Tenor Michael Ford received the $300 third prize in the evening's one incongruous decision. Mr. Ford sang sensitively and sweetly but had trouble negotiating his second aria, from Gounod's, "Faust," and had to engage the falsetto to hoot his way to the finish line.
A better choice might have been baritone Mark Tevis who, despite horrific stage presence and an excessively bright vocal quality in need of darkening, seems further along technically. Maybe if the judges had closed their eyes, as I did, he might have finished higher.
Other highlights included a gutsy "Regnava nel Silenzio" from Donizetti's "Lucia," sung by Charmaine Hamann, a haunting "Must the Winter Come So Soon" from Samuel Barber's "Vanessa," sung by mezzo Grace Harrison Gori, and a sparkling bit of "Die Fledermaus" tossed off by Amy Van Roekel, who won the Aris T. Allen Prize as the audience's favorite in addition to her fourth-place award from the judges.
Once again, the evening's Most Valuable Player was pianist Patricia McKewen Amato, who accompanied everyone with sensitivity despite having to turn her own pages while taming the sticky keys of the big, bad, balky, St. John's Bosendorfer. Somehow she manages to thrive on what would make other pianists weep. Amazing.