Saint Martin's student wins prize in Met Opera competition

November 16, 2009

Lacey, Washington — Saint Martin’s University student Jacob Kinderman recently won the “Encouragement Award” at a district competition for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in Vancouver.

The purpose of the National Council Auditions Program is to find exceptionally talented young opera singers, ages 20-30, and to assist them in their development. The auditions program also seeks out new talent for the Metropolitan Opera and to search for possible participants in the Young Artist Development Program of the Met.

The auditions program starts at the district level. Kinderman competed in the Western Canada District, which was co-sponsored by the Vancouver Opera Guild. He sang an aria from Eugene Onegin and “Non Più Andrai” from The Marriage of Figaro. The youngest of the 28 singers in his round, Kinderman was one of a handful of college students in the competition; most of the competing singers were in their late 20s.

"It was great to see what level the older singers were at, and what I need to do to be a serious contender in the future," said Kinderman.

This was Kinderman’s third competition. Recently, he took second place out of 36 singers at the Schloss Mirabell Recital Competition in Salzburg, Austria. He has also won awards in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition.

Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year, Catholic, coeducational university located on a 380-acre wooded campus in Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of Saint Benedict, the University is one of 18 Benedictine colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University prepares students for successful lives through its 21 majors and six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business, education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250 students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main campus, and 650 more to its five extension campuses located at Fort Lewis Army Post, McChord Air Force Base, Olympic College, Centralia College, and Tacoma Community College.

For additional information:

Genevieve Canceko Chan
Director of Communications & Marketing
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4332
gchan@stmartin.edu
www.stmartin.edu