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  THE THIRTY-FOURTH
LYNDON WOODSIDE SOLO COMPETITION
April 10, 2010

In 1975, the Oratorio Society inaugurated an annual Solo Competition, designed to encourage the art of oratorio singing and to give talented young singers an opportunity to advance their careers. The Competition has become international in scope, and well-known in the music world.

Since the Competition's inception, more than 3,400 singers have competed.  The judges have chosen nearly 100 winners, awarding thousands of dollars in cash prizes. In addition, over 65 performance contracts have been awarded to Competition winners to appear in concert with the Society; many have also been awarded contracts with other major musical organizations.

When and Where

The Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition is held in New York City every year during March and April. More than $15,000 in cash prizes will be awarded, along with possible contracts for oratorio performances in New York City.

The deadline for all application materials for the 2010 Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition is February 15, 2010. Rules and procedures are explained in the Application.  For answers to Frequently Asked Questions, please visit the Solo Comp FAQ page.

New for 2010:  All of part of the competition application and materials may be submitted electronically.  Details are on the Application page.

Qualifications

The Solo Competition is open to singers of all nationalities who were born after December 31, 1969 and who have not made a formal oratorio debut in a major concert hall. (Previous Solo Competition first, second and third prize winners are not eligible to compete.)

Awards

At the conclusion of the Finals, the following Awards will be presented:

The Ruth Lopin Nash Award for 
First Place
$7,000
The Stanley C. Meyerson Award for 
Second Place
$5,000
The Docia G. Franklin Award for
Third Place
$2,500
Other Finalists $   500 each

____________________________________________________________

Two Ancillary Richard Westenburg Prizes

18th century stylistic interpretation $   500
19th century stylistic interpretation $   500

The Judges
Judges for the Solo Competition Finals represent the major musical institutions of 
New York City.  The Judges for the 2010 competition are:
     Leslie Fagan
     Alfred Hubay
     Denise Pineau
     David Randolph
     Kent Tritle

Official Accompanist
The accompanist for the 2010 competition is Linda Hall.

Previous Competition winners have gone on to careers in Opera and Oratorio. They include:

David Barrell
Alan Bennett
Kamel Boutros
Robert Bracey
David Britton
Benjamin Butterfield
Jennifer Check
Hans Choi
Shirley Close
Stanley Cornett
Michael Dash
Michelle DeYoung
Bradley Diamond
Molly Donnelly
Tyler Duncan
William Ferguson
Lauren Flanagan
Svetlana Furdui
Alexander Hajek
Carl Halvorson
Brenda Harris
Karen Holvik
Weston Hurt
Carolyn James
Jeffrey Kneebone
Eleni Matos
Andrea Matthews
Kevin McMillan
Brian Mulligan
Eric Owens
Robert Perry
Derek Ragin
Steven Rickards
Yves Saelens
Michael Schade
Denis Sedov
Svetlana Serdar
Robert Pomakov
Anna Soranno
Johanni Van Oostrum
Jayne West
Richard Zeller

Requests for information or applications should be addressed to:
     Ms. Janet Plucknett
     Competition Chairman
     Oratorio Society of New York
     1440 Broadway 23rd floor
     New York, NY 10018
Or e-mail your request to solocompetition@oratoriosocietyofny.org.

Click here to download the application.