This spring, the Metropolitan Opera will present The Audition, a documentary film about the intense challenges and pressures young opera singers face as they try to become opera stars. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, The Audition will be shown on 400 screens across the country on April 19 at 3pm EST (and in Canada on June 6 at 1pm EST) as part of the Metropolitan Opera's series of high definition presentations in movie theaters and performing arts centers.
The Audition is a suspenseful competition narrative that provides a revealing behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make it as an opera star. The feature-length film documents the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the storied Met stage-and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career.
The film focuses on the final week of the competition, as judges narrow the field down from 22 semi-finalists to11 finalists while the stakes get higher and the pressure grows more intense. The documentary crew was given unprecedented access to the singers, judges, and events backstage at the Met.
The film concentrates on the finalists, including three very different tenor contestants: Michael Fabiano, a fiery 22-year-old grappling with his inner demons; Alek Schrader, a 25-year-old with movie-star looks who attempts to sing nine high C's in the same fiendishly difficult aria that helped make Pavarotti a star; and Ryan Smith, who at the age of 30, and with little formal training, is taking his last shot at an opera career. (Months after the film was completed, in November 2008, Smith died of lymphoma.)
As an additional feature, the transmission of the documentary includes a panel discussion hosted by soprano Renée Fleming and with fellow National Council winners Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson. The panelists reminisce about their own past participation in the competition and provide expert analysis.
The film is produced by Froemke and Douglas Graves.
About the National Council Auditions
The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. The auditions are held annually in fifteen regions of the United States and Canada. There are 45 districts within these regions, each providing an opportunity for talented singers to enter the Auditions Program at the local level. The Auditions are administered by National Council members and volunteers in each region. Gayletha Nichols is the Executive Director of the Auditions.
Winners of the district auditions advance to their regional finals where they compete to win a trip to New York to participate in the national semi-finals, a competition held on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. Approximately ten of the semi-finalists are selected as national finalists, and compete the following Sunday in the Grand Finals Concert, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The jury awards five or six Grand Winner awards of $15,000 each. This year's concert takes place on February 22.
Every Met season brings to the stage a new crop of singers who were recognized by the Auditions early in their careers. This season's roster includes more than 100 singers who participated in the Auditions program, including such stars as Stephanie Blythe, Renée Fleming, Elizabeth Futral, Susan Graham, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Patricia Racette, Samuel Ramey, Deborah Voigt, and Dolora Zajick.
The Metropolitan Opera has sponsored audition programs for young singers since 1935, when "The Auditions of the Air" provided a chance for up-and-coming artists to compete on the radio for a Met contract. When Rudolf Bing took over as general manager in the early fifties, he hoped to attract young, gifted singers from all over the country, The newly formed National Council, founded in 1952, seemed like the right group to spearhead the project.
About Susan Froemke, Director/Producer
