Metropolitan Opera National Council Utah District Auditions
1971
William Goeglein
Roberta Ralf
Rebecca Olson
1972
Marilyn Rudolph
Christine Timothy
Donna Welman
1973
Elaine Carr Brewster
Katheryn Austin
Clinton Johnson
Laura Garff Lewis
1974
Monica Fisher
Christine Rogers
1975
Connie Cloward
1976
Kristen Hyde
1977
Connie Cloward
1978
Carol Brain
Roger Summerhays
1979
Cynthia Pannell
Kristen Hyde
1980
Linda Pierce
1981
Andrea Thornock
Kathleen Watt
Jonella Smith
1982
Kristin Hurst-Hyde
Carla Cook
Adelaide Sinclair
1983
Adelaide Sinclair
Anna Mooy
1984
Carol Ann Goodwin
1985
Lee Ann Zappitello
Victoria Morris
1986
Susan Alexander
Lee Ann Zapitello
Karen Anderson
2004
Katherine Swigert
2005
Camella Canete
Marilyn Reid
2006
2007
2008
2009
Michelle Broadbent
Marilyn Reid Smith
2010
2011
Michelle Alexander
2012
Jubal Joslyn
2013
Rebecca Pedersen
2013-14
Dru Morgan Daniels
Chelsea Lindsay
David Sauer
Tyrell Wilde
2014-15
Kevin Smith
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
Jonah Hoskins
History of Utah District Winners
1987
Patricia Farr
Mark Nyman
Debie Mitchell
1988
Julie Reynolds
James Miller
Elizabeth Paniagua Emerson
1990
Carol Nelson
LaDawn Gardner
1991
James Miller
Marie-Adele Black
Marta Gutierrez
1992
Laurel James
Coleen Butler
Julia Reed
1993
Sarah Asplund
Marie-Adele McArthur
1994
Colleen Butler
Carolyn Tallboys-Klassen
1995
Martha Glissmeyer
Nancy Treu Jepson
1996
Robin Murphy
Ryan Olson
1997
John Mauldin
Darren Richard Watts
1998
Todd Miller
1999
2000
Todd A. Miller
Gregory Oaks
2001
Christie Allen
Rachelle Hume
2002
Gabrieal Gonzales
Edwin Uhey
2003
Gabrielle Firenze
1976 Utah District Winner
Dr. Craig Jessop is Professor of Music and the founding Dean for the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University. These appointments follow Dr. Jessop’s distinguished tenure as music director of the world famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Head of the Department of Music at Utah State.
1983/84 Utah District Winner
Distinguished American tenor Stanford Olsen is one of this generation’s most successful and versatile artists, his career spans more than 1,200 performances on five continents over the course of 30 years. He is a Professor of Voice at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater, and Dance.
2011 Utah District Winner
Tenor A.J. Glueckert has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for his “superb,” “soaring” voice with “polished high notes.” In the 2016-2017 season, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Erik in Der fliegende Holländer. He also joined the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt and debuted at the Glyndebourne Festival as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos. He sang Pinkerton with The Santa Fe Opera in 2018.
1998/99 Utah District Winner
Celena Nelson Shafer has garnered acclaim for her silvery voice, fearlessly committed acting and phenomenal technique. She spends much of her time on the concert stage where she appears regularly with major orchestras. A celebrated artist in her home state of Utah, Ms. Shafer has long relationship with Utah Opera and Utah Symphony and will perform the Queen of the Night in Utah Opera's March 2019 production of The Magic Flute. She will sing Zerbinetta in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with the Cincinnati Opera in July 2019.
2006/09 Utah District Winner
Hailed as a “rich voiced, expressive mezzo-soprano” by San Francisco Classical Voice and “appealingly direct and honest in tone and bearing,” by Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe, Nina Yoshida Nelsen made her New York City Opera debut with great success as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, conducted by George Manahan.In the 2017-2018 season, she returned to Seattle Opera in Jack Perla's An American Dream.
2008 Utah District Winner
Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen is quickly gaining international recognition as one of the most outstanding voices of her generation. She was the winner of both the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the 2011 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, a prize winner in the 2014 Richard Tucker Awards, and she received first prize in the 2014 Operalia Competition. Her 2018-19 season includes leading roles with Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, The Metropolitan Opera, and San Francisco Opera.