Soprano from Mexico takes top prize at International Vocal Competition on campus


The International Czech and Slovak Voice Competition lived up to the “international” part of its name over the weekend at the Weidner Center’s Fort Howard Hall. The top six prizes went to vocalists from Mexico, Canada, the USA, Canada, Spain and USA, respectively. UW-Green Bay Music Prof. Sarah Meredith Livingston, director, shares the following results:
• Tie for 1st place — Alejandra Sandoval, soprano, Mexico, and
 Sasha Djihanian, soprano, Canada;

• 3rd — Nicholas Davis, baritone, USA;

• 4th — Brigitte O’Halloran, soprano, Canada;

• 5th — Suzanne Taffot, soprano, Spain:
• 6th — Ian Toohill, tenor, USA
The French Prize (best interpretation of a French work) went to Djihanian, and the Kaprolova Prize (best interpretation of a Vítězslava Kaprálová art song) to Davis. The 2015 edition of the every-other-year competition is the 13th since its inception in Montreal, Canada, in 1991. This is the first year Green Bay hosted the finals, after successfully hosting opening rounds six straight times since 2003. Meredith Livingston, along with community patron Sharon Resch, producer, organized the weekend’s events.