Houston Grand Opera Studio

EXTRACT I
1. Bernstein: West Side Story – Act I “The Dance at the Gym”: Section 4b (Mambo)
2. Tchaikovsky: Polonaise from Eugene Onegin (beginning of Act III, #19)
3. A short solo piano piece of your choice of comparable difficulty to the above extracts

EXTRACT II (MOZART)
1. Le nozze di Figaro – Act II Finale from the entrance of Antonio (Scene X, Allegro molto) until the end of the act
2. Così fan tutte – Act I Finale from the entrance of Despina and Don Alfonso (Scene XVI, Allegro) until the end of the act
3. Don Giovanni – Act I Finale from Allegro 6/8 “Riposate, vezzose ragazze” until the end of the act
4. Die Zauberflöte – Act I Finale from Tamino’s aria “Wie stark ist nicht dein Zauberton” (m. 160) until the end of the act
5. Don Giovanni – Act II Sextet “Sola, sola in buio loco”

EXTRACT III (ROMANTIC)
1. Puccini: La bohème – Act I up until the entrance of Benoit OR Act IV up until the entrance of Musetta
2. Puccini: Tosca – Act I up until figure 40
3. Puccini: Madama Butterfly – Act I up until Figure 37
4. Verdi: Rigoletto – Act 2 Scena and aria “Povero Rigoletto...Cortigiani, vil razza dannata” AND Act 3 Quartet “Un dì, sebben rammentomi…Bella figlia dell’amore”. (Ricordi Scenes 9 and 12)
5. Bizet: Carmen – Act II, #15 quintet “Nous avons en tête une affaire” AND Act II, #20 trio “Mêlons! – Coupons!”

EXTRACT IV (20th CENTURY)
1. Ravel: L’enfant et les sortilèges – Fire’s aria (8 before Rehearsal 40 - Rehearsal 48; Durand 25/5/1 – 30/3/4) AND L’heure espagnole – Concepcion’s aria “Oh! La pitoyable aventure!” Scene XVII
2. Poulenc: Les mamelles de Tirésias “Non, Monsieur mon mari” (Act I Scene I from figure 20 - figure 34)
3. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier – “Wie du warst” from rehearsal 12 to four measures after rehearsal 25
4. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos – Zerbinetta’s recitative and aria, from 5 before #117 (“So war es mit Pagliazzo”) to #144
5. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos – Komponist’s aria from from “Sehr lebhaft” (rehearsal 108) until the end of the Prologue.
6. Stravinsky: The Rake’s Progress – “No Word from Tom…I go, I go to him!”

EXTRACT V (MODERN)
1. A 5’-10’ operatic excerpt from a work written after 1940 in English.

You may audition for the National Council only once per season. There is no limit as to how many seasons you may audition, depending on your previous advancement in the competition. Please review the National Council eligibility requirements for more information.

Other unique benefits of the National Council Auditions are:

To hear from professionals in the business. There are three judges at every level (with the exception of the Qualifying Round) of the competition, chosen from a selected list of professionals in the business. We make them available to you following the competition for feedback, so that you might ask questions and hear first-hand their thoughts about your presentation that day.
To assess your vocal development. The best way to improve at auditioning is to do more auditions. This is a chance to sing a professional audition and get a better idea of how your audition skills compare to the other singers of the day. We encourage singers to sit in and observe the auditions to get a full picture of the vocal talent that day.

To advance professionally. The judges for the National Council are part of a larger network of industry professionals. Many of them are in a position to recommend you for work, advanced study or an apprenticeship. National Council auditions can go beyond one day of singing and open doors for the future.

Qualified applicants may choose to enter any District audition across the country regardless of whether they are a resident of the area. District winners must compete in the Region Finals of the Region in which they were District winners. Because we allow singers to audition in the National Council District of their choice, there will be certain unavoidable instances when a panel includes a judge with a connection to one or more contestants. While we work to avoid this situation, please be assured that judges are required to recuse themselves from deliberations about singers with whom they have previously worked.

Once you have qualified for a District audition (you will be notified on October 12, 2021), please refer to the District and Region Audition Information section for the audition dates and deadlines. District auditions will occur November through January with the winners advancing to the Region Finals, which will be held in February and March.

The National Semifinals and Grand Finals Concert will take place in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera House in the spring on the following dates for the 2020-2021 season*:

• Candidates should prepare one selection from each of the following five lists.
• Candidates should be prepared to sing and play all operatic excerpts, to follow a conductor, to translate each extract without reference to notes, and to respond to musical direction.
• Auditions may also involve sight-reading and verbal interviews.