American Idol for Opera Singers

I was getting my haircut this past week and overheard a snippet of conversation from a chair across the room. The stylist was saying that her parents were in town this weekend, and that among their scheduled activities was going to see “this concert-thing, kind of like American Idol for opera singers.” I perked up, of course, and at first had no clue as to what monstrosity she might be referring to. But when she mentioned the University’s Meany Hall, I knew that it wasn’t a farce; it was the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Northwest Regional Finals. I got a chuckle imagining the mostly blue-haired audience members “texting their vote” to determine the winner!

For a better description of the Met Council Auditions, read what Kim Pensinger Witman had to say over at the Wolf Trap Opera blog. Her point about the winner not always being the person who gave the most compelling performance is important to note. Judges are often looking for characteristics of a winner that the public doesn’t always recognize. That is why so many competitions have an Audience Favorite award.

I’m not feeling overly literate right now, so I hope you get my point. I’ve seen the whole spectrum of competition results, including being involved in some wins and losses that I didn’t agree with. But that’s the business. Subjective, fickle, full of chance and opinion. Sometimes the subjectivity is in your favor, and sometimes it’s not. Make the most of it when it is!

I know several singers competing today at Meany Hall, and I wish them well!

In other news, I’m a cello, with high likelihood of being a trombone or an oboe. No hint of a viola. No surprise there.