Alumna Wins Met National Council Auditions

OBERLIN, OH — Soprano and Oberlin Conservatory alumna Sydney Mancasola ’11 became one of six winners of the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions on March 10, one of opera’s most prestigious competitions. Winners receive a $15,000 cash prize as well as valuable exposure in front of some of the premier figures in the opera world. Mancasola sang “Salut à la France” from Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment and “Caro nome” from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Daune Mahy, Mancasola’s vocal teacher at Oberlin, described her as “a wonderful young soprano with a glowing upper range coupled with an amazing innate sense of musicality.”

Mancasola is the latest in a line of Oberlin students and alumni to succeed in the National Council Auditions in the past decade. Kevin Ray ’07 was one of the top ten finalists in the auditions in 2012. Alek Shrader won in 2007 just before graduating from Oberlin, and alumni Ed Parks ’06 and Joseph Barron ’08 won in 2008 and 2011 respectively.