Baritone Donald Christensen, a resident of Riverside,...
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Baritone Donald Christensen, a resident of Riverside, took first place Saturday at the Orange County District preliminaries for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Regional Auditions. Christensen, 30, won from a field of 10 singers at Chapman College in Orange with arias from Gounod’s “Faust” and Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.”
Second Place went to Soprano Anne-Marie Boche, 30, from Long Beach, who sang arias from Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Bizet’s “Carmen.” Bass Mel Whitehead, 31, from Anaheim, won third place with arias by Mozart and Verdi.
The three prize winners will go on to compete in the Western Regional Auditions on Nov. 3 in Los Angeles.
Encouragement awards were also give to soprano Jocelyn Garner, 32, Fullerton, and soprano Carole Sihilling, 31, Laguna Niguel. They will not compete in Los Angeles.
The judges were Glynn Ross, general director of Arizona Opera; Jane Randolph, a voice teacher and coach from San Diego, and Daniel Cariaga, Los Angeles Times music writer. Grant Gershon, principal repetiteur for Los Angeles Music Center Opera, was the accompanist.
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