Finals of the Utah District Metropolitan Opera Auditions were held in the Temple Square Assembly Hall Feb. 3, and three winners were selected. They will represent the state in regional auditions for the Rocky Mountain District, to be held in Arvada, Colo., Feb. 18.
Winners, all from Salt Lake City, are soprano Elizabeth Paniagua-Emerson, $500; tenor James Miller, $400; and mezzo-soprano Julie Reynolds, $300. Martha West, a mezzo from Provo, received the Sylvia Learner Wollman memorial award of $100, and Salt Lake soprano Carolyn Talboys was awarded $100 in memory of Glenn Walker Wallace.- LONGTIME BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY faculty member Brandt Curtis will join with mezzo-soprano Lila Stuart for a Valentine's Day program of "Music for Lovers" at 7:30 p.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall in the Harris Fine Arts Center. The concert, free to the public, will Mark Curtis' farewell performance after 33 years on the BYU faculty.
Stuart was a new student at BYU the year Curtis joined the faculty. "I remember her talent; we all did," he says. "She played the title role in `Carmen' and was a star in the department. I kind of followed her career as she won both the Metropolitan and San Francisco auditions, yet our paths didn't cross directly again until three years ago when she joined the faculty."
"I remember this young, suave tenor on the faculty," says Stuart. "He later sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and even soloed with them. We've discovered a link in our vocal studies. He received his doctorate from the University of Indiana in 1978, and I've been working on mine - piecemeal as he did - also at the University of Indiana."
Featured on the Tuesday recital will be love songs from "Gigi," "Mephistofele," "The Gypsy Baron" and "Song of Norway." In addition bass-baritone Clayne Robison will join Curtis for duets from "La Boheme" and "The Pearl Fishers." Accompanying will be pianist Jeffrey Shumway.
Following his retirement Curtis plans to fill an LDS mission. "It's been a wonderful career," he says. "I've had great satisfaction in seeing growth in students; it's like creating something. My philosophy has been to encourage them and let them realize there's a lot to be achieved if they are willing to work for it and pay the price."