2022 Competition for Colorado Singers
Congratulations to the DLOG Competition for Colorado Singers 2022 Finalists!
The DLOG Competition for Colorado Singers was decided at the March 19, 2022 Final. Click to see all the incredible 2022 Finals performances available on DLOG YouTube. Listed below are all the Finalists along with their awards. Special thanks to pianist Jeremy Reger for exceptional accompaniment. Also bravi tutti! to our Finals Judges Dr. Samuel Mungo, Leenya Rideout, and past DLOG Competition winner Wei Wu (see photo left). Also many thanks to our Preliminary judges Jonathan Hays, Eapen Laubner, and Marcia Ragonetti. As always thanks to our Committee members and our technical team on a successful Competition!
For a comprehensive cast list of the DLOG 2022 Competition, please see the 2022 Competition Program.
First Place: $10,000 Galen & Ada Belle Spencer Foundation Award
Lauren Bumgarner 25, Soprano
Lauren Bumgarner received her BM in Vocal Performance from the University of California – Santa Cruz and is working on her MM in Vocal Performance at Colorado State University. Lauren was the 2020 Emerging Artist for MIOpera and was selected as a 2020 Apprentice Artist at Opera Fort Collins. Roles for MIOpera include Micheala in Carmen and Juliette in Romeo et Juliette.
Second Place: $5000 Kenneth King Foundation Award
Kelly Riordan 25, Mezzo
Kelly Riordan, mezzo-soprano, has been praised for her “exuberant honesty” onstage as well as her “beautiful vibrancy and warmth” of tone. Originally from Chicago, IL, Kelly is currently pursuing her Master’s in vocal performance and pedagogy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In addition to the DLOG Competition, Riordan placed second at the national competition of NATS (Upper College Women) where she was congratulated on her “wonderful storytelling, strong musicianship, and professional and confident performance. Most recently, Kelly has been awarded a Fulbright Grant to study in Vienna, Austria for the 2022/2023 academic year.
Third Place: $4500 Myrle F. Hoffman Memorial Award
Tessa McQueen 24, Soprano
Tessa McQueen received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oklahoma City University. She graduated Cum Laude in her 2019 class.
She also became a 2022 Midwest Region 3rd place Winner and Tulsa District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. Tessa was a Metropolitan Opera National Council Encouragement Award winner from the Tulsa District in 2020.
Ms. McQueen looks forward to joining Central City Opera this upcoming season to sing the role of Krystyna Zywulska in Jake Heggie’s Two Remain (Out of Darkness). She will be a Studio Artist with CCO.
Fourth Place: $4000 Shirley and Marlis Smith Award
Gabrielle Razafinjatovo 27, Mezzo
Gabrielle Razafinjatovo is a second-year master’s student at the University of Colorado Boulder pursuing a MM in voice performance and pedagogy. She is a student of Julie Simson and Abigail Nims. Originally from North Dakota, she earned a BA in voice and piano from Minot State University in 2017. She performed with the Minot Symphony Orchestra as winner of the MSO Senior Honors Competition and as a soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria. Past roles include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mercedes in Carmen, and Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with the Western Plains Opera Company.
Fifth Place: $3500 Gary & Gayle Landis Award
Danielle Lombardi 30, Mezzo
Danielle Lombardi received her bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory and her master’s degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Her operatic roles include Annio in La clemenza di Tito, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring, Ericlea in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and Sandman in Hänsel und Gretel. Danielle was a 2016/2017 Opera Colorado Young Artist and a 2017 District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Sixth Place: $3000 Carole Johnson In Memory Of Mary Wise Award
Christina Hazen 27, Mezzo
Colorado-born Mezzo-soprano Christina Hazen is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artists Vocal Academy and received her Artist Diploma at the University of Cincinnati- College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) where she was a Norman Treigle Award winner at the Corbett Opera Competition. Christina joins Minnesota Opera as a Resident Artist for the 2022-2023 season where she will will make her debut singing Goffredo in Rinaldo, and cover the roles of the Marquise of Berkenfield in Daughter of the regiment and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Northern Colorado where she sang the title role in Carmen, Meg in Falstaff, and Oberon in The Fairy Queen.
Seventh Place: $2500 Beverly Ann Landis Memorial Award
Paul Wolf 31, Tenor
Paul Wolf is an emerging artist in the Denver area working on his DMA at CU Boulder. Mr. Wolf’s recent engagements include the role of Nero in Eklund Opera’s production of Agrippina. Other past engagements include Opera Birmingham as Spoletta in Tosca, Birmingham Music Club as Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore. Past season highlights include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Seagle Festival; Sam Kaplan in Street Scene, and Fenton in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor with University of Alabama Opera Theatre; Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Cpt. Dick Warrington in Naughty Marietta with Birmingham Music Club. Mr. Wolf is a former Seagle Festival Fall Artist, a Young Artist Apprentice with Charlottesville Opera, as well as a member of Opera Roanoke’s Young Artist Apprentice Program. Mr. Wolf was the 2019 NFMC Young Artist Man’s Voice Winner from their 60th Biennial Competition in Jacksonville, Florida. He also placed Second in the 2016 MTNA National Young Artist Vocal Competition in San Antonio, Texas.
Certificate of Merit: $1000 Julie Johnston and Donors in Memory of Harry Williams Award
Alice Del Simone 29, Soprano
Certificate of Merit: $1000 Jackie Writz in Memory of Candidate Check-in Volunteers Extraordinaire Mary Sharon Wells, Rosemary Priester, Jane Gibson, and Jeanette Thrower Award
Courtney Caston 26, Soprano
Honorable Mention $500 Gene and Linda Young in Honor of Mason Cramer, Liverpool Card Group, and DLOG Donors
Below: Soprano Andrea Messina strikes a pose for photographer Ashley Amegin
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“One of the first competitions I participated in was Denver Lyric Opera Guild. Through the encouragement and feedback of the visiting judges and financial support of the Guild, I had the means to continue to pursue my “opera addiction.” As young artists, we encounter so many hardships, disappointments and setbacks. But because of DLOG, when these blows came down, I still had the means and encouragement to push through.”