Jan. 13, 2025

The Journey to Concert of Arias

The Live Final Round of HGO’s Eleanor McCollum Competition
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The view from Butler Studio Director Colin Michael Brush’s window as he set off in search of the finest emerging artists in opera.

Tonight marks an exciting milestone for the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, as the final round features the wonderful Houston Grand Opera Orchestra for the first time. For those of you who have attended Concerts of Arias before, you may remember that the competition has always been performed with piano. Many of the world’s best competitions present their final round with full orchestra, and it’s a different process for both the singers and for us, the company. Executing a competition with orchestra instead of piano involves far more preparation but is a rewarding experience, as singing with full instrumental accompaniment is something not all young singers get to experience so early. This addition reflects HGO’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of opera stars while ensuring an extraordinary experience for the audience and performers alike. From its inception, this competition has required months of preparation, a global search for talent, and tireless dedication, but this year the process has been even more intense. Here’s a peek behind the scenes of how we got to the final round of the competition: tonight’s Concert of Arias.

 

Summer 2024
The process began even before the start of our season. I launched our search for the most promising emerging artists out there by traveling to all the major summer opera apprentice artist programs in the United States, including Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and San Francisco Opera. Additionally, I scouted singers in Europe, visiting conservatories, competitions, and training programs in Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and more. HGO General Director and CEO Khori Dastoor and Director of Artistic Planning Richard Bado also heard singers across Europe. In the U.S., Butler Studio Music Director Dr. Maureen Zoltek scouted talent while teaching at the renowned Music Academy of the West, and Director of Vocal Instruction Dr. Stephen King joined Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers at the Aspen Music Festival.

 

July 1, 2024
The competition application officially opened, inviting singers from around the world to submit materials. Applicants provided biographical information, details about their training, and two contrasting video performances.

 

Late August 2024
Applications closed, with nearly 1,000 singers submitting close to 2,000 videos. Over the next few weeks, the pre-screening process began, allowing us to narrow the pool of singers to the most promising candidates for live auditions. This critical step enabled us to determine the best potential fits for the competition and the Butler Studio, ultimately inviting 250 singers to the next phase.

 

Late October
The live audition tour began with two days in Houston. The team—comprising Dr. Zoltek, Dr. King, and me—then traveled to Cincinnati, New York, and Philadelphia. We do a live audition tour every year to ensure we hear the best talent possible. Not everyone can travel to Houston, as many singers are in school, working, or performing, so we include stops in multiple cities to make it feasible for more applicants. The tour takes lots of preparation, as we must find audition spaces in these cities, pianists for the auditioners, and audition staff, while navigating a hectic travel schedule for the judging panel. In total, we heard around 250 live auditions from the 1,000 applications submitted.

 

November 10
Following the auditions, 20 semifinalists were selected to move forward to the official live semifinal audition round in Houston on January 10. 

 

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Classical music documentarian Veronika Emily Pohl, New York City Opera Executive Director and Music Director Constantine Orbelian, Kaunas Orchestra General Manager Algimantas Treikauskas, National Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre’s Vladimiras Prudnikovas, and Brush

Mid-November to mid-December
We began the next critical stage of preparations. Unlike previous years, when piano accompaniment allowed for more repertoire flexibility, the addition of the HGO Orchestra required all aria selections to be finalized early. Each semifinalist submitted four arias for consideration, creating a pool of 80 possibilities for tonight’s program.

 

While only 14 arias will be performed tonight, the final program wasn’t determined until just under a week ago. Last week’s semifinal round determined which seven singers would advance to tonight’s final round, so the program was decided on Saturday evening. With such a tight timeline, it’s impossible to prepare all orchestra parts at the last minute. This meant that all 80 potential arias had to be prepared weeks in advance.

 

Our incredible Music Planning team, led by Director of Artistic Partnerships & Music Planning Monica Thakkar, worked with our artistic staff to pull the music for these 80 selections. This Herculean task required gathering and organizing parts for every individual player in the orchestra—a process demanding extraordinary coordination and accuracy. 

 

While this initial preparation for our first year hosting the competition with the HGO Orchestra requires significant effort, it also lays a strong foundation for future competitions. Once we prepare an orchestral aria for performance, we keep those parts, gradually building a comprehensive library of fully prepared orchestral repertoire. Over time, this process means that much of the standard audition repertoire will already be available, significantly reducing preparation time for future competitions. In just a few years, we will have a robust catalog of arias at the ready, streamlining this complex process.

 

Throughout this process, our Butler Studio Manager, Kiera Krieg, managed and coordinated the complex logistics—finalizing schedules, overseeing arrangements, and maintaining consistent communication—required to ensure every semifinalist was ready to arrive in Houston.

 

January 8–9
The semifinalists arrived in Houston, with five traveling internationally and the rest coming from across the U.S.

 

January 10
All 20 semifinalists performed two of their selected arias in the Cullen Theater, where you are sitting tonight, for members of the HGO Artistic team and Butler Studio and company leadership. From these, seven finalists were chosen to advance to tonight’s competition.

 

January 11
The seven finalists performed their remaining two arias for our Artistic team, helping us determine which selections would best showcase their voices in tonight’s program. The 14 arias featured tonight were selected with care, their performance order meticulously arranged, before final preparations were made to ensure every orchestral part was printed and ready for our incredible orchestra.

 

January 12–15
The finalists worked closely with tonight’s conductor, the incredible James Gaffigan, and participated in rehearsals with our HGO Orchestra. During this time, they also completed wardrobe fittings to ensure they look their best and recorded interviews so you can get to know them a little better tonight.

 

January 16
The finalists sang for the HGO Artistic team in the Brown Theater to give us a sense of how their voices carry in a larger space. That evening, they participated in a dress rehearsal, bringing all preparations to a close.

 

Tonight
The journey comes to an end. The finalists take the stage in the Cullen Theater, performing two arias each, accompanied by the full HGO Orchestra.

 

For some, this marks their first opportunity to sing with an orchestra, a thrilling and formative milestone in their careers. It has been an extraordinary and rewarding voyage to this moment, and we are delighted to share the artistry of these young talents with you tonight. And you never know—as epic as this journey has been for these artists, for some of them, tonight could mark the very beginning of an even longer relationship with Houston Grand Opera.

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Brush attended the semi-final round of the Sumi Jo International Singing Competition in the Loire Valley region of France.
about the author
Colin Michael Brush
Colin Michael Brush is the director of the Sarah and Ernest Butler Houston Grand Opera Studio.