Opera Modesto

TOP Young Artists

2020 Kristina Townsend Competition Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Kristina Townsend Memorial Vocal Competition. There were 15 participants ranging in age from 16 to 25. Each singer prepared a minimum of three songs for the judges. The winners are:

Ages 23 – 26

1st Place: Sarah Conniff

Sarah is a coloratura soprano from Fresno California. Most recently, she appeared as La Fee in the Lyric Opera of Orange County’s production of Pauline Viardot’s Cinderella. In 2018 she was the Queen of the Night in the Vienna Summer Music Festival’s production of Die Zauberflote; that year, she also graduated from CSU Long Beach with a BM in Vocal Performance.                                                              

2nd Place: Amanda Britt

Born in Redding California, Amanda Britt has been part of many performance ensembles including Shasta Community Chorale, Shasta College Chamber Choir (audition ensemble) as well as an opera chorus member and lead roles various works for Shasta College. She is pursuing her Bachelors in Vocal Performance and studies with Dr. Robin Fisher at CSU Sacramento. She also sings with Sacramento University Chorale and Camerata California in Carmichael.                                                             

Ages 19 – 22

1st Place: Hannah Lampkin

Hannah Lampkin is a Senior Vocal Performance Major at the University of the Pacific studying under Burr Phillips. She has performed in Pacific’s Dido & Aeneas, The Beggar’s Opera, and Brigadoon.  She will soon perform the role of Pitti-Sing in The Mikado. She is a 1st place winner of the 2019 Stockton Opera Guild Kathe Underwood Competition. After completing her degree, she plans to continue to study language in Germany.                 

Ages 16-18

1st Place: Michael Megenney

A junior at Escalon High School, Michael has been involved in music since the 5th grade. Not only does he sing in the choir but also plays trumpet and viola.  A tenor he is studying with Annette Hutton and Katie Steffanic.

2nd Place: Luca Mitchell

A freshman at CSU Stanislaus this is Luca’s second time to win the KT Memorial Competition.  Luca recently made his operatic debut in Opera Modesto’s Mansfield Park.  In addition to vocal performance, Luca plays the piano, offers private lessons and composes. He won best composition at The Valley Talent Project in 2017.

3rd Place: Donovan Jasper

Donovan has been singing since he was 8 years old. At Jesuit High School he was the only freshman to belong to the Honors Chamber Choir. He is the cantor for class masses and a soloist at Lessons and Carols. Donovan is a founding member of the high school’s barbershop quartet. Last year Donovan was selected as cantor for Bishop Quinn’s memorial

Encouragement Award: Abner Arias

Abner is a student at the Stockton Accelerated Institute of Learning and is also taking courses at San Joaquin Delta and Modesto Junior Colleges!  He says, “singing has been an outlet for me through some of my most difficult times and has helped me to refresh myself when I am worn out”. Abner has been taking singing lessons since 2018 and is thrilled by the journey and looks forward to performing.

Summer Opera Institute

The Summer Opera Institute for Teens (SOI) is a University/Conservatory level vocal, acting and performance training program that includes opera and language workshops, dramatic preparation, music theory, International Phonetic Alphabet training, movement classes, and individual voice coaching sessions by acclaimed professionals. The 2020 SOI will be Monday – Friday July 20 – 31 from 9 – 5 concluding with a FREE Concert on August 31st.

The 2019 Summer Opera Institute was held Modesto Junior College’s Music Department and concluded with the Concert in the Snider Music Hall at California State University Stanislaus on August 2, 2019. It included performances by 48 students from 20 schools and 14 cities between Manteca and Merced, CA. There were 27 selections in four languages, as well as the world premiere of a scene from the newly commissioned youth opera, The Race, An Aesop’s Fables Mashup, by Dr. Deborah Kavasch and Linda Bunney-Sarhad, which will receive its full world premiere in the 2020 SOI.

Enrollment for the next Summer Opera Institute will be in Spring of 2020. Tuition is $200, full and partial scholarships are available. Similar programs cost $1500 – $8000.

Vocal placement: the faculty will hear each participant for vocal range and skill levels prior to start of the program. Contact Jewel Whitaker, Marketing & Development Manager at 209-523-6426 or jwhitaker@operamodesto.org for more information and to be contacted when enrollment begins.