TOP Young Artists

The Kristina Townsend competition honors the memory Townsend Opera Players (now Opera Modesto) founder Erik Buck and Erika Townsend’s daughter Kristina. She loved music and she loved to sing. The competition is designed to encourage and inspire emerging talented young singers in her honor. 

The competition is usually held in March. Singers ages 16 – 26 who live in the central valley perform two classical pieces of their choice and are judged by professional artists. Winners in each age category receive an award ranging from $200 – $500.

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. Held in July, the program concludes with a FREE Concert.

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This year’s 2019 SOI Concert was in the Snider Music Hall at California State University Stanislaus on August 2, 2019. It included performances by 43 students from 20 schools and 14 cities between Manteca and Merced, CA. There were 27 songs in four languages, and the world premiere of a newly commissioned youth opera, Aesop’s Fables, the Operatic Mash-Up, by Dr. Deborah Kavasch and Linda Bunney-Sarhad, which will receive its full world premiere in the 2020 SOI.

You can see the SOI teens perform throughout the year at a variety of concerts and events. Details coming soon.

Enrollment for the next Summer Opera Institute will be in February, 2020. Please continue to check back for updates.