The classical vocalists who earn fellowships to perform and study art song at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute all have the talent to enrapture stages around the world, but there’s an undeniable boost that comes from strong performances in—let alone winning—events like the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition. Formerly known as the National Council Auditions, the competition is designed to discover young professional opera singers and assist in the development of their careers.
Ahead of the 2022 semifinals this weekend and Grand Finals on May 1, top singers from the Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky Districts ascended gathered at Ravinia on March 26 to participate in the Central Region Finals in Bennett Gordon Hall—the home stage of RSMI. Though this was the first time the competition physically met up with Ravinia, the caliber of artists onstage between the two programs have long shared the same space.
In 30 years of the RSMI Program for Singers, alumni have an impressive record of accomplishment at the Laffont Competition, both before and after their fellowships. Notable winners of the event include soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Paul Appleby—both 2009 competition winners, Sierra attended RSMI in 2012 and Appleby in 2008—as well as mezzo Michelle DeYoung, a 1992 winner who studied at RSMI in 1995 and has since returned multiple times to join the faculty. The list goes on and regularly continues to grow.
Janai Brugger
Eight RSMI alums are among the winners of the past decade, and three of them are set to return to Ravinia’s stages this summer. Janai Brugger, who was at RSMI in 2011 and won the following year, will be the soprano soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s “Kaddish” Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, led by Chief Conductor Marin Alsop on July 30.
Emily D’Angelo
A few weeks later, mezzo Emily D’Angelo, whose 2015 and 2016 summers at RSMI bookended her competition win, will perform a solo program of songs from enargeia, her new album on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label, as well as music from late-Romantic-era composers. Kevin Murphy, the director of the voice program since 2012, will join her August 17 concert on piano, and she will also be a special guest for the 2022 RSMI fellows, holding one-on-one coaching sessions with the singers.
Ashley Dixon
Both Brugger and D’Angelo also feature in the cast of the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera La clemenza di Tito on August 12 and August 14, where they will be joined by the third alum, mezzo Ashley Dixon, who won the Met’s competition in 2018 and attended RSMI the following year. D’Angelo portrays Sesto, a close friend of the titular Roman emperor Tito, while Brugger plays Servilia (Sesto’s sister) and Dixon is Annio (Servilia’s partner and Sesto’s friend). Brugger took on the same role in Los Angeles Opera’s acclaimed 2019 production that was led by James Conlon, who conducts these performances with the CSO.
About RSMI
Founded in 1988, the Ravinia Steans Music Institute is an international destination for young professional pianists and string players, classical singers, and jazz musicians devoted to uniquely honing and advancing their talents as collaborative artists. Since opening its doors, RSMI has offered private coaching, master classes, and performance opportunities to over 1,500 exceptional musicians, many of whom have cultivated highly visible and successful careers in performance, leadership, and music education.