CCM baritone advances to the Met

Baritone Jonathan Lasch, 26, a student at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and native of Plymouth, Minn., tied for first place in the Tri-State Regional Round of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, held Saturday at University of Kentucky, Lexington.

"I was honestly so surprised when I heard my name as one of the two winners, because I didn't sing nearly my best, and I heard so many wonderful singers," Lasch e-mailed.

He sang Ford's Monologue from "Falstaff," Hamlet's Drinking Aria, and "O du mein holder Abendstern" from Wagner's "Tannhauser."

Lasch is also a recipient of the Seybold-Russell Scholarship at CCM, and will be featured in the lead role of Shrike in CCM's production of "Miss Lonelyhearts," a new opera by Lowell Liebermann, premiering Feb. 8 and 10 in Corbett Auditorium.

The other winner is UK soprano Afton Battle, 26, who told the Lexington Herald-Leader that she is a distant cousin of famed soprano (and CCM grad) Kathleen Battle.

They will advance to the national semi-finals, to be held at the Metropolitan Opera in in February, with a chance to win cash prizes of up to $15,000. The semi-finals will be Feb. 17, followed by the finals on Feb. 24.

Elizabeth Koontz, a graduate of Walnut Hills High School and an Indiana University student, won an encouragement award.

Second place winner was Kathryn Leemhuis, 24, a mezzo-soprano from Indiana University. Winning third was IU soprano Jung Nan Yoon, 27, a citizen of South Korea.
The regional competition consisted of winners from the Indiana, Southern Ohio and Kentucky districts.

The judges were Carroll Freeman (filling in for Opera Theatre of St. Louis director Charles McKay, whose flight was canceled), the Met's George Darden and renowned soprano Mignon Dunn.

Click here to see a photo on culture writer Rich Copley's blog.