UTAH SOPRANO MAKES IT TO SEMIFINAL ROUND IN MET OPERA AUDITIONS

Getting into the final round of the Metropolitan Opera auditions is a dream come true for young, aspiring singers. To be sure, it’s a harrowing process to get to New York for the finals, but for those who are lucky enough to do so, the rewards make it all worthwhile.

To make it to New York, auditioners have to first win in the district round to make it to regionals. Winning the regional round gives them a spot in the semifinals in New York, where the judges pick five or six of the best to go on to the finals.

For Rebecca Pedersen, it’s been quite a journey. The Bountiful soprano will be leaving Utah in a few days to fly to New York for the semifinals. Speaking with Reichel Recommends she said the experience so far has been unreal. “It’s been overwhelming and very humbling,” she said in a phone interview.

Rebecca Pedersen

Pedersen entered the Utah district auditions in January never expecting to go past this initial round. “I entered the round for practice. I didn’t think I would go so far.” At 21 she has been the youngest competitor in each round, a fact she can’t put out of her mind. “I’m the youngest and I’ve competed against some very good talent.” But faith in herself and trust in her teacher have seen her through.

For the past 2 ½ years Pedersen, a sophomore at Brigham Young University, has studied with Darrell Babidge. “He isn’t just a teacher,” she said, “he’s a mentor and a friend.” Babidge has done more than just train her voice, she added. “He’s helped me grow as an artist and as a person. That’s a testament to who he is.”

Pedersen began singing when she was 17 ½. Her first teacher was Serena Kanig Benish, with whom she studied for six months. During her senior year Pedersen and her family moved to San Diego, where she finished high school. After returning to Utah Benish wasn’t able to fit her into her schedule. “Her studio was full, and that was when I met Darrell.”

Utah Symphony audiences may remember Pedersen’s appearances at the Salute to Youth concerts. She sang with the symphony twice, in 2010 and also last year; both times were with music director Thierry Fischer conducting.

One of 11 children, Pedersen said she is the only one in her family who is musical. But even though none of her brothers and sisters sing or play an instrument they’ve supported her wholeheartedly. “I’m one of the oldest siblings, and it’s been hard for me to have siblings look up to me so much. They’ve been there for me 100 percent. It’s been wonderful.”

The road to the semifinals has been a bit rough at times, though, with an unexpected twist, thanks to a late repertoire addition. Pedersen had worked on perfecting her repertoire for the district auditions for months. After she was picked to go to Denver for the regional round, a district judge suggested she learn a new aria, knowing full well the time was extremely short. The aria Pedersen added was “Stridono lassù” from Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. She and Babidge worked on it diligently and with some trepidation.

Pedersen learned the aria in 10 days and finished memorizing it just two days before the regional round. It was still so new for her that she hadn’t even had the opportunity of singing it all the way through with an accompanist. But she wasn’t too worried about having to sing it, because her accompanist in the district round said the judges would probably choose the Mozart, since the regional round happened to fall on Mozart’s birthday. But to everyone’s shock, that wasn’t quite how it worked out. “I nearly died onstage when they asked for [‘Stridono lassù’]. And Darrell nearly died, too. It’s a long aria, nearly 5 ½ minutes. It was a miracle I didn’t have any memory slips. It wasn’t necessarily an enjoyable experience, but it was a good thing when you take everything into consideration.”

Not only did she survive that ordeal, she was picked to move on to New York.

The semifinals take place March 3 on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. It’s going to be a closed audition, but as Pedersen said, the house will be filled with some important people. “Everyone who is anyone in opera will be there.” Among the judges will be Marco Armiliato, a frequent guest conductor at the Met who will conduct the Met Opera Orchestra for the final round. The finals take place a week later, on March 10. That round will be open to the public.

This entry was posted in Articles by Edward Reichel. Bookmark the permalink.

About Edward Reichel

Edward Reichel, author, writer and composer, has been covering the classical music scene in Utah since 1997. For many years he served as the primary music critic for the Deseret News. He has also written for a number of publications, including Chamber Music Magazine, OPERA Magazine, 15 Bytes, Park City Magazine and Salt Lake Magazine. He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He can be reached at ed.reichel@gmail.com. Reichel Recommends is also on Twitter @ReichelArts.

1 thought on “UTAH SOPRANO MAKES IT TO SEMIFINAL ROUND IN MET OPERA AUDITIONS

  1. Pingback: REBECCA PEDERSEN IN FINAL ROUND IN METROPOLITAN OPERA AUDITIONS | Reichel Recommends

Leave a Reply