FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 2, 2016
Richard “Trey” Smagur
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Five students from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music took home major awards from the Central Region Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions held at the Music Institute of Chicago in Evanston, Ill., Nov. 20.
Tenor Richard “Trey” Smagur, a student of Carlos Montané, was one of two first-place winners to advance to the National Semi-Finals, to be held at the Met in New York City March 12.
Smagur, from Clarkesville, Ga., is pursuing a Performer Diploma in Voice Performance. He has performed numerous times at IU, including lead roles in IU Opera Theater’s “Madama Butterfly” (B.F. Pinkerton), “Carmen” (Don José), “The Magic Flute” (Tamino) and “H.M.S. Pinafore” (Ralph Rackstraw.) Last summer, Smagur covered the role of Des Grieux in Massenet’s “Manon” at Des Moines Metro Opera and was an apprentice artist and fellow in the voice program at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute.
Winners from the semi-finals round will advance to the Grand Finals at the Met March 19.
Soprano Monica Dewey, a student of Patricia Stiles, took second place, while soprano Mathilda Edge, a student of Brian Horne, won third place.
Tenor Andres Acosta and mezzo-soprano Gretchen Krupp each received encouragement awards. They study with Carol Vaness and Jane Dutton, respectively.
Smagur, Dewey and Edge are all Georgina Joshi Fellowship recipients.
Judges for this year's competition were Mary Dunleavy, soprano; Michael Heaston, executive director of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and Gregory Henkel, managing director: artistic at the San Francisco Opera.
The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. The auditions are held annually in 12 regions of the United States. There are 42 districts within these regions, each providing an opportunity for talented singers to enter the Auditions program at the local level.