YPO Voice Competition Finals Concert

Comes to Arsht Center:

Concert Offers the Best of Opera & Today’s Young Voices

Young Patronesses of the Opera (YPO), in conjunction with Florida Grand Opera (FGO), is proud to announce the 27^th annual YPO Voice Competition. This year, the Finals Concert will be held for the first time at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Offering a program of popular and significant arias as sung by today’s brightest young talents, the concert takes place on April 27, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. with tickets available to the public for as low as $10.

“We are not only looking to provide new opportunities for budding opera singers,” said Lucie Spieler, chairman of the YPO Voice Competition. “We also want to give the community the chance to experience their talent and fall in love with opera, whether for the first time or all over again.”

The competition began with hundreds of applicants, which have been narrowed down to 35 semifinalists set to audition in Miami on April 26. The following day, a hand-picked group of 12 finalists will perform at the Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht Center giving the aspiring stars a taste of their future success.

“For more than 20 years, YPO and FGO have worked together to bring opera to the community in South Florida. This competition features the best young voices from across the nation and the proof is in the winners,” said Susan Danis, Florida Grand Opera’s CEO and General Director. “Past finalists – such as Michael Fabiano, Nadine Sierra, and Elizabeth Caballero – have gone on to successful international careers, singing leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and more.”

Each of the 12 finalists will perform and compete for $46,000 in prizes, some of which include: the Senior Young Artist division (ages 26-30) grand prize of $8,000; the Junior Young Artist (ages 20-25) division grand prize of $7,500; the Troy Moss Memorial prize of $5,000; the Audience Favorite prize of $1,000, for which tickets buyers will have the chance to vote.

The YPO Voice Competition, held in Miami every other year, was founded in 1972 by Irene Patti Swartz Hammond. In 1988, YPO joined forces with Florida Grand Opera to create a truly prestigious national competition, awarding some of the highest prizes in the category. The chairman of the event is Lucie Spieler with co-chairmen Charlette Seidel and Renee Fink.

The judges for the 2013 competition include: Andrew Bisantz, music director of Eugene Opera and an American conductor with extensive credits leading national orchestras and opera companies throughout the country, most recently FGO’s Magic Flute;Gerald Martin Moore, pianist, conductor, and vocal coach who works with several notable singers, including Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and Rolando Villazón; Maria Zouves, soprano, founder and director of V.O.I.C.Experience in Tampa, and associate director of Opera Tampa.

Contestants scheduled to compete in Miami for the semifinals are:

Junior Young Artist (aged 20 – 25):

Ryan Bradford, baritone (from Walnut Creek, California)

Sergio Cepeda, tenor

Betsy Diaz, soprano (from Miami, Florida)

Claire DiVizio, soprano (from Beverly Hills, Michigan)

Melissa Fajardo, mezzo-soprano

Gillian Hollis, soprano (from Miami, Florida)

Aumna Iqbal, soprano (from Newport Coast, California)

Michael Kuhn, tenor (from Crofton, Maryland)

Steven LaBrie, baritone (from Dallas, Texas)

Alyssa Martin, soprano (from Greensboro, North Carolina)

Rebecca Nathanson, soprano (from New Haven, Connecticut)

Edward Nelson, baritone (from Los Angeles, California)

Catherine Spitzer, soprano (from Hollywood, Florida)

Brian Vu, baritone (from New Haven, Connecticut)

Senior Young Artist (aged 26 – 30):

Viktor Antipenko, tenor (from St. Petersburg, Russia)

Noel Bouley, bass-baritone (from Houston, Texas)

Cynthia Cook, mezzo-soprano (from Whitehouse Station, New Jersey)

Stephen Fish, bass-baritone (from Cedar Falls Iowa)

Joseph Flaxman, baritone (from Succasunna, New Jersey)

Jeremy Griffin, bass-baritone (from Colorado)

Jeff Gwaltney, tenor (from Ocala, Florida)

Bevin Hill, soprano (from Atlanta, Georgia)

Carla Jablonski, mezzo-soprano (from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvia)

Adam Lau, bass (from San Francisco, California)

Hye Jung Lee, soprano (from Seoul, South Korea)

Kathryn Leemhuis, soprano (from New York, New York)

Matthew Maness, tenor (from Roanoke, Virginia)

Ryan Milstead, baritone (from Okolona, Mississippi)

Matthew Newlin, tenor (from Georgetown, Illinois)

Amy Oraftik, mezzo-soprano (from California)

Heather Phillips, soprano (from North Canton, Ohio)

Ola Rafalo, soprano (from Chicago, Illinois)

Brittany Ann Reneé Robinson, soprano (from Burnsville, Minnesota)

Lacy Sauter, soprano (from Duluth, Minnesota)

Melinda Whittington, soprano (from Wilson, North Carolina)

Funds for the competition are provided by Young Patronesses of the Opera, with ongoing support from Junior Opera Guild, Dr. and Mrs. Phillip George (the Judy George Award), Ms. Renée Fink (the Marvin A. Fink Memorial Award), the Irene Patti Swartz Hammond Memorial Award fund, and several individual donors.

All singers who participate in the Finals Concert win a prize. Donors who underwrite an award have the opportunity to name that award and present it to the winner on stage. For more information, please contact Lucie Spieler at (305) 854-1643, ext. 1521, or at lspieler@fgo.org.

TICKETS & LUNCHEON

Tickets are $25 for orchestra and $10 for mezzanine and above. Tickets may be purchased through the Florida Grand Opera ticket office at 800.741.1010 or online at www.FGO.org.

A luncheon prior to the event will be held at Barton G Restaurant onsite as chaired by Barbara Reese and Deborah Campbell. Tickets for the luncheon are $80, including both a three-course meal and a ticket to the concert. Luncheon tickets can also be purchased via the Florida Grand Opera Box Office.

ABOUT YOUNG PATRONESSES OF THE OPERA

Since 1956, the Young Patronesses of the Opera’s (YPO) has been offering expansive education programs include: a fully staged In-School Opera for elementary school children; Girl Scout Workshops, which enable young scouts to earn an Opera Patch; and a Teacher Workshop that prepares more than 1,000 South Florida teachers each year to include opera in the classroom and offers continuing education credits. In addition, the YPO is nationally recognized for its Voice Competition and its “Opera Funtime” publication, which tells the story of an opera by using illustrations, poetry, puzzles and a short musical score.  This dynamic group of women from the Miami area has also provided major support to FGO for over 50 years. For more information, please visit www.ypo-miami.org, or contact giving@fgo.org.

I wanted to invite you to let other local artists know that we are trying to grow our blog, and we are looking for artists/websites to feature. There’s no charge for this!

To contact the gallery, e-mail lookbeyond1425@gmail.com

Website: http://lookbeyond-usa.com

French artist, Thierry Dufloo’s new Miami Beach art gallery offers whimsical paintings, unique sculptures, and a distinctly modern flair, which keeping prices affordable for customers. The French native, is very well known in Saint Tropez for his artistic creations, and throughout Europe as the first provider of innovative framing stores.

The great thing about Look Beyond is the wide array of styles which are abundant throughout the gallery. It’s motto “Enjoy Art” is completely relevant in that stopping by the gallery is pleasurable.

“Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings”, according to the gallery.

This sentiment holds true when taking a peak inside. Paintings, ceramics, and sculptures are offered in styles and colors which would appeal to any taste, while furniture is uniquely and ornately designed to add pizzaz to a modern home. Some sculptures are whimsical and colorful, while others are more simply decorated. Any piece would be the perfect accent to a home or office in need of a little uplift.

The gallery, which opened this year, features Dufloo’s work, as well as the work of notable artists, such as Deesse, Bruno Deman, Hori, and Maniez. Customers can shop for modern paintings ranging from $500 to $1300 or for gifts such as small sculptures for as little as $30.

Located at 1427 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, the gallery is open seven days a week (most days past 10pm).

For more information, stop by or call 786.290.4801.

You can also visit the gallery online at http://lookbeyond-usa.com 24/7 to browse a large selection of pieces for sale.

National Historic Landmark Freedom Tower

December 6, 2012, 7 p.m.

The museum has partnered with Terra Group and Bacardi to present an evocative retrospective exhibition of the unique three-decade creative collaboration of award-winning fashion designer Isabel Toledo and her husband, artist Ruben Toledo. The exhibition runs through Feb. 2, 2013.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/695125944/the-shift-film-album

THE SHIFT: A FILM SHORT BY MIAMI ARTISTS! A multimedia experience that redefines the art of storytelling & creative expression.

OVERVIEW

” The Shift “ is a highly ambitious project with an all encompassing scope (film, instrumental audio album, animated graphic art reel ) which blurs the lines of multimedia creative expression to redefine the art of story telling.

SHORT FILM

Centering around the short film, we witness three separate plot lines intertwine into one narrative that seamlessly depicts the social / political , technological, and spiritual shift that humanity is experiencing. These plots are separated in three acts.

ACT 1 : The story of a young rebel who is intent on exposing the fraud and corruption he witnesses in politics. His good natured motives, however, are taken to the drastic extreme in his quest to expose the POLITRICKS

ACT 2 : Rachel is a young woman who is envied by most around her. Young, beautiful, and successful, she leads an apparently fulfilled life. But she battles an inner darkness as she is unconsciously addicted to social media, continuously seeking external validation via MORE LIKES

ACT 3 : A loner / nomad / explorer who has been an outsider most of his life is determined to find that unknown spark which he seeks for. After failing to find it in the external world, he moves the search into the depths of his own mind on his quest to ASCEND

Less dialogue based and more symbolic imagery in nature, the film is driven by the accompanying instrumental album that serves as the soundtrack to the film.

ALBUM

Produced by JMac himself, his collaboration with musician / composer virtuoso Matthew Smith created an intense & moody canvas in which to paint the films vision on.

Being the source behind The Shift’s inspiration, the album features a variety of hip hop / abstract / classical beats and instrumentals that seamlessly transition from one track to the next.

This is supplemented with the score which is embedded within these recordings to create a full immersion into the sound.

ANIMATED GRAPHIC ART REEL

Always intent on pushing the limits & boundaries on creative expression, JMac takes his love for graphic design to the next level with a fully animated graphic art reel that takes the The Shift’s artwork to the next level.

Basically a movie within a picture, the artwork for The Shift is composited and digitally animated into a reel that symbolically depicts that plot.

WHERE WE CURRENTLY ARE

At the moment, the majority of the cast & crew are in place, as well as the locations. All of the scripts, artwork, and songs on the album are completed.

WHERE WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

Being not just a film, album, or animated graphic art reel, but all three, The Shift’s ambition in scope is not just time intensive, but financially costly as well.

Funding is needed for the following things

BARE NECESSITIES | Equipment rentals | Props | Location Permits | Professional Audio Recording | Mixing | Mastering | Food on set | Travel expenses for cast and crew |

The current campaign goal amount is just the BARE minimum we need for this to happen.

Ideally, we will surpass our campaign goal and be able to fund these additional items to push The Shift to the next level

ADDITIONAL EXPENSES | More experienced cast and crew | better equipment | More locations | Higher quality mixing and mastering | Private screenings | Film festival distribution | AND MUCH MUCH MORE

SPECIAL REWARDS

We genuinely want our backers and funders to become involved with the creation of The Shift, so we are offering special rewards ( visible to the right ) that vary in size and scope.

Some of the rewards include limited edition DVD & CD copy of the film / album, specially designed artwork, shirts, premiere screening tickets, joining us on set for production, cameo’s in the film, name credits in the project, and much more.

http://conradhotels3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/conrad-miami-MIACICI/index.html#/en/hotels/florida/conrad-miami-MIACICI/events/social.html