Students win national competition

After years of singing together and in competition, School of Music graduate students Larry Brownlee and Kristine Winkler won the Grand Finals Concert of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York. After completing the district, regional and semi-final rounds of competition, Brownlee, Winkler and 10 other finalists performed April 1 on the Met stage accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Brownlee and Winkler were among this year's five audition winners.\n"It's good to see nice things happen to nice people," coach Gary Arvin said. "Winning the Met gives them a label that nobody can ever take away from them. It defines them as two of the most promising singers in the country today."\nIn addition to the training provided by Arvin, Brownlee and Winkler study with Costanza Cuccaro, an IU voice professor. Winkler said Cucarro provides more technical training in areas such as breathing, tone and quality. Arvin concentrates on the stylistic aspects of Winkler's voice, such as dynamics in an ensemble, foreign language and style.\nA former Met winner herself, Cuccaro said winning the Met auditions opened doors for her both financially and professionally. Not only did it give her the money she needed for coaching, especially language coaching, but it also exposed her to a larger audience. \n"It's something great that the Met does for young students," Cucarro said. \nEach of the five finalists will receive $15,000 in prize money. The award, Cuccaro said, provides "a financial, mental ease" for its winners. Many students use the prize money for voice lessons, coaching or travel expenses. \n"If there's an audition in San Francisco," Cucarro said, "it doesn't have to be a financial burden." \nFor most young opera hopefuls, money is an issue. Winkler said she plans to use the money to pay off her car, invest in some new music and continue her training. Brownlee said he also intends to pay off his car, then use the money for business cards and head shots to prepare for his career. \nThe auditions also provide the students with exposure. \n"They get to play with the orchestra on the Met stage," Cucarro said.\nFor both of IU's winners, the experience of the Met auditions is something they will never forget. \n"It's overwhelming. I didn't expect it," Winkler said, "The experience was amazing. It was the most nervous I've ever been in my life, and I don't get nervous."\nBrownlee said he was anxious, too.\n"I just kept telling myself, 'Don't get nervous,'" Brownlee said, "'You belong here.'" \nWinkler said the hardest part of the experience was the name attached to the auditions. \n"It was hard to get up on that stage and sing," she said. \nBrownlee and Winkler have studied with Arvin and Cucarro for four years. \nArvin said two people from the same studio had never advanced so far together. \n"It says something about IU's program," Cuccaro said. \nFrom the first round of competition, three students advance from each district. The next round is a regional competition. Cuccaro said this part of the audition process is much more difficult.\n"There are students from three or four states, and only one from each region advances," Cuccaro said. \nThe students perform in the semi-finals. Here, 23 students from the entire country are whittled down to 10 finalists. From these final 10, five winners are selected. \nArvin credits Brownlee and Winkler's motivation and natural talent with their success. \n"You can improve a voice, diction, style and interpretation with good teaching," Arvin said. "But you have to have a good instrument to start out with to be considered Met quality."\nBrownlee is a tenor from Campbell, Ohio, who began singing in church as a child. One of six children, he was involved in music both through his high school and his church. After graduating from Anderson University in 1996, Anderson completed his master's degree at IU last year. He last performed on the Musical Arts Center's stage in the February IU Opera Theatre production of "Faust." Although he will spend the summer in Vienna, Va., participating in Wolftrap, one of the country's most coveted summer programs, Brownlee is humble about his success.\n"I'm still a fledgling," Brownlee said. "There's still so much to learn."\nIn the future, Brownlee said he hopes to "perform for a while, and then settle down at a university and teach." \nWinkler also has teaching in mind for her future. \n"I do want to teach," she said, "but right now I just really wanted to sing." \nWinkler, a soprano from Huntingburg, Ind., is pursuing a master's degree in voice. While studying at IU, Winkler has performed such roles as Gilda in "Rigoletto" and Musetta in "La Boheme." She has taken singing lessons for the past eight years, studying voice since the beginning of her undergraduate career. \n"That's the interesting thing about voice," Winkler said. "You're constantly learning a new thing."\nWinkler continues to learn by taking language classes and listening to other singers. Winkler said Cucarro encouraged her to enter the Met auditions. \n"Winning the Met auditions is every opera singer's dream,'' she said. "It's been a dream my whole life." \nIn addition to her work at IU, Winkler has performed at the Houston Grand Opera in the Eleanor McCullen Competition for Young Singers. She was also nominated for the Sarah Tucker Study Grant Competition, which is a competition for young singers. This summer Winkler will participate in the Glimmerglass Apprentice Program in Cooperstown, N.Y. She plans to perform the role of Lucia in the "Rape of Lucretia." She said her goal is to get an agent, spend her career performing and eventually teach.