This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Michelle Alexander, Albert Joseph (AJ) Glueckert IV, and Jennie Litster were named winners of the Utah District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council (MONC) 2011 auditions in Salt Lake City on January 8, 2011 after two days of competition that included 39 singers in Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah Campus.
The MONC Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist the development of their careers. The auditions are held annually in 15 Regions of the United States and Canada. The Utah District is one of 45 within these Regions. Region winners receive a cash prize and will be sponsored to go to New York in February for the National Council Auditions Semi-Finals. There, they will sing in a closed competition, accompanied by piano on the Met's stage, for a place as a National Council Auditions Finalist. The Finalists will then perform at the Grand Finals Concert on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.
Here are the MONC's bios of the winners:
Michelle Alexander, a 24 year-old native of Salt Lake City, Utah, is a senior at the University of Utah completing a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance. Michelle sang the role of Mother Marie in Utah Lyric Opera Ensemble's 2010 production of Dialogues of the Carmelites and Second Lay Sister in Utah Opera's 2010 production of Suor Angelica, she was a winner in the 2010 Utah Concerto Competition and a National Semi-finalist in the Classical Singer 2010 competition, college division. She was also selected as Audience Choice award winner at the Utah District finals.
AJ Glueckert, a 24 year-old native of Portland, Oregon, is currently a Resident Artist in Utah Opera's Ensemble program where he has been featured in concerts throughout the state of Utah and on the main stage as Parpignol in their recent production of La Bohème; he will also sing the role of Dr. Caius in Utah Opera's May production of Falstaff. AJ holds bachelor and masters degrees in music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, was a studio artist with Utah Festival Opera in 2008, and an apprentice artist with The Santa Fe Opera in 2009 and 2010.
Jennie Litster, a 28 year-old native of Las Vegas, Nevada currently making her home in Provo has recently been featured in productions of Livermore Valley Opera and Opera San Jose. Jennie holds a Bachelor of Music from Brigham Young University and a Master of Music the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has recently been contracted by Utah Opera to be a 2011-12 Resident Artist in the Ensemble program.
Each of the three Utah District winners received a cash prize of $1,000 and will compete with the winners of the Colorado-Wyoming District auditions at the Rocky Mountain Region auditions on Saturday, January 29, in Denver, Colorado.
The judges also awarded two Encouragement awards to: Andrew Marks Maughn (tenor), a 24 year-old native of Bountiful, Utah who is currently working toward a bachelor degree in vocal performance at the University of Utah School of Music and Kimberly Waite, a 21 year-old native of Ogden Utah who attended Weber State University and the University of Miami-Frost School of Music at Saltzburg. T