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2024 George London Award Winners

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Emi Ferguson: Hello. I'm Emi Ferguson, and tonight, we're diving into the exhilarating world of opera as we celebrate the winners of the 52nd George and Nora London Foundation competition on this edition of The McGraw Family's Young Artists Showcase.

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Now in its 47th year, the Young Artists Showcase is generously underwritten by The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation, and tonight, we'll be hearing performances from the award ceremony for the 52nd George and Nora London Foundation, live from the Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum here in New York City. The George and Nora London Foundation Award is $12,000 to six young American and Canadian singers each year, and is one of the opera world's oldest and most prestigious competitions. All of the artists on today's show are fast-rising stars.

The 2024 George London Award winners are Soprano Katerina Burton, Mezzo-Sopranos Emily Treigle and Erin Wagner, Tenor Samuel White, and Baritones Darren Drone and Benjamin Dickerson. Get ready to be knocked out of your seats as we are kicking the night off with a performance from Baritone Benjamin Dickerson. With critics raving about his tonal focus and beauty and smooth and varied dynamics, Benjamin is no stranger to commanding the spotlight, and if you are a New Yorker, chances are you might have heard him performing on the stages of Carnegie's Weill Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and even right here at WQXR'S Jerome L. Greene Space.

In his performance tonight, he'll transform into Carlo Gérard, a servant caught up in the French Revolution in Umberto Giordano’s opera Andrea Chénier. He'll be singing the aria, Nemico della patria, which in English translates to An Enemy of the Fatherland. Here's Benjamin's award-winning performance with pianist Michael Fennelly.

[MUSIC - Giordano: Nemico della patria, from Andrea Chénier - Benjamin Dickerson, Baritone]

[applause]

Emi Ferguson: Baritone Benjamin Dickerson, and pianist Michael Fennelly, performing Nemico della patria from Giordano’s Andrea Chénier. All of our performances tonight were recorded here in New York City on February 16th at The Morgan Library & Museum's Gilder Lehrman Hall. And if you haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Morgan, amongst its many treasures are its incredible musical manuscript collection. It holds manuscripts from all of the composers featured on tonight's show.

Up next, we have two arias from Mezzo-Soprano Erin Wagner and Soprano Katerina Burton. Erin, a mezzo-soprano originally from El Paso, Texas, is the recipient of a George London Award in memory of Mary Palumbo, and is passionate about music that highlights accessibility and diverse perspectives. And we've heard her here before on the Young Artists Showcase as part of the young concert artist roster.

Fellow 2024 George and Nora London Award winner Soprano Katerina Burton is originally from Ocean City, Maryland. She's an alumna of Towson University and The Julliard School, and performs all around the country with opera companies, including the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and New York's Metropolitan Opera. Tonight, she'll be singing the aria, Tu che le vanità, "You Have Known the Vanities of this World," from Giuseppe Verdi's Opera Don Carlo. She plays the role of Elizabeth, the Queen of Spain, unveiling her innermost thoughts and a profound acceptance of her destiny.

But first, here's Mezzo-Soprano Erin Wagner, performing the composer's aria, Senn wir wieder gut, from Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, with pianist Michael Fennelly.

[MUSIC - Strauss: Senn wir wieder gut, from Ariadne auf Naxos - Erin Wagner, Mezzo-Soprano]

[applause]

[MUSIC - Verdi: Tu che le vanità, from Don Carlo - Katerina Burton, Soprano] [MUSIC - Verdi: Tu che le vanità, from Don Carlo - Katerina Burton, Soprano]

[applause]

Emi Ferguson: Mezzo-Soprano Erin Wagner, performing the composer's aria from Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, followed by Verdi's Tu che le vanità from Don Carlo, performed by Katerina Burton. Both of these performances were with pianist Michael Fennelly, and Katerina's award is in memory of Leonie Rysanek.

In addition to the six $12,000 prizes awarded that night, the remaining six finalists were awarded George London Encouragement Awards of $2,000. Let's hear two of those prize winners now. First, we'll hear Mezzo-Soprano Cierra Byrd, with pianist Michael Fennelly, performing Massenet's O ma lyre immortelle, followed by Tenor Bergsvein Toverud, performing Gounod's Ah! Leve-toi, soleil!, also with pianist Michael Fennelly.

[MUSIC - Massenet: O ma lyre immortelle, from Sapho - Cierra Byrd, Mezzo-Soprano]

[applause]

[MUSIC - Gounod: Ah! Leve-toi, soleil!, from Roméo et Juliette - Bergsvein Toverud, Tenor] [MUSIC - Gounod: Ah! Leve-toi, soleil!, from Roméo et Juliette - Bergsvein Toverud, Tenor]

[applause]

Emi Ferguson: Mezzo-Soprano Cierra Byrd, performing Massenet's O ma lyre immortelle, and Bergsvein Toverud, performing Gounod's Ah, Leve-toi, soleil!, both with pianist Michael Fennelly.

We're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, we'll hear more enchanting performances of music by Wagner, Handel, and Puccini, from the 2024 winners of the George and Nora London Awards here on The McGraw Family's Young Artists Showcase.

Welcome back. I'm Emi Ferguson. And on this week's edition of The McGraw Family's Young Artists Showcase, we're hearing live performances from the 2024 George and Nora London competition. The George and Nora London Foundation for Singers and the George London Awards are named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the great opera singers of the 20th century.

Since its founding, the annual competition has given more than 300 awards and a total of more than $2 million to an outstanding roster of young American and Canadian opera singers who have gone on to international stardom. All of our young winners are already turning heads in the opera world. And next, Tenor Samuel White performs Amfortas! Die Wunde!, from Wagner's Parsifal, in which the title character asks God for forgiveness for his sins. Here is Tenor Samuel White, with pianist Michael Fennelly.

[MUSIC - Wagner: Amfortas! Die Wunde!, from Parsifal - Samuel White, Tenor]

[applause]

Emi Ferguson: Tenor Samuel White, with pianist Michael Fennelly, performing Amfortas! Die Wunde! by Wagner from the opera Parsifal. Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Samuel White has been praised for his gleaming, heroic tenor, and he studied at the Aspen Opera Center and the Manhattan School of Music. And Samuel's George and Nora London Award is in memory of Lloyd E. Rigler.

Up next, we'll hear an aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi. And while the most famous aria from that opera might be O mio babbino caro, Schicchi's Si corre dal notaio or Run to the Notary takes a close second. Here's 2024 George London winner Baritone Darren Drone performing Si corre dal notaio from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, with pianist Michael Fennelly.

[MUSIC - Puccini: Si corre dal notaio, from Gianni Schicchi - Darren Drone, Baritone]

[applause]

Emi Ferguson: Baritone Darren Drone, with pianist Michael Fennelly, performing Si corre dal notaio from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. Originally from Sherwood, Arizona, Darren Drone has a gorgeously warm tone and a deep resonance, and is quickly making a name for himself in the opera world. In the summer of 2023, Darren debuted at the Glimmerglass Festival as Marcello in La bohème and Grégorio in Romeo and Juliet. Darren's George London Award is in memory of Kirsten Flagstad.

Our last 2024 award winner is Mezzo-Soprano Emily Treigle with an award in memory of Norma Newton. Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Emily is a grand finals winner of the 2021 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and has been praised for her supercharged and bewitching and impassioned performances. Here's Mezzo-Soprano Emily Treigle singing Iris, Hence away, from Handel's Semele, with pianist Michael Fennelly.

[MUSIC - Handel: Iris, Hence away, from Semele - Emily Treigle, Mezzo-Soprano]

[applause]

Emi Ferguson: Handel's aria, Iris, Hence away, from the opera Semele, performed by Mezzo-Soprano Emily Treigle and pianist Michael Fennelly. What an incredible group of young singers. Congratulations again to all of the finalists and award winners--Benjamin Dickerson, Erin Wagner, Katerina Burton, Samuel White, Darren Drone, and Emily Treigle. In addition to the annual competition, the George and Nora London Foundation also presents a recital series to give award winners a chance to share their talents in a full recital program.

If you're in New York City, don't miss the conclusion of the '23-'24 season of the George and Nora London Foundation at The Morgan Library & Museum on April 28th, with a recital by former grant winner Baritone Blake Denson, with pianist Kevin Miller. They'll be performing a program of music by Francesco Santoliquido, Shawn Okpebholo, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

And since we have a little extra time tonight, I thought it would be fun to share Blake Denson's winning performance from the 2022 George and Nora London Awards. Here's Blake Denson, with pianist Michael Fennelly, performing Giuseppe Verdi's Carlos, écoute, from Don Carlos.

[MUSIC - Verdi: Carlos écoute, from Don Carlos - Blake Denson, Baritone]

[applause]

Emi Ferguson: Blake Denson, with pianist Michael Fennelly, performing the aria, Carlos, écoute, from Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos. Don't miss Blake live in concert at The Morgan Library & Museum on April 28th, as part of the George and Nora London Foundation series in the Gilder Lehrman Concert Hall. He'll be performing Francesco Santoliquido's four-song cycle I canti della sera, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel, and Shawn Okpebholo's arrangement of the spiritual, Steal Away.

Thank you for joining us tonight as we celebrated the future of opera with the fantastic winners of the 2024 George and Nora London Foundation Awards.

The Young Artists Showcase is generously underwritten on WQXR by The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation. Here's Terry McGraw with more.

Terry McGraw: Good evening, everyone. It's great to be with you. And it's always great being with the Young Artists Showcase, and to hear these really wonderful and inspiring musicians as they continue to share their incredible gifts with us every week. I can't wait to hear the fabulous talent coming up on the showcase. And I am so pleased to be able to support the series all through its well over four decades on WQXR. And there's so much more to come.

Emi Ferguson: Thank you, Terry. And special thanks to Jennifer Wada, and the George and Nora London Foundation. Many thanks to our WQXR production team, Laura Boyman and Max Fine. Our generous program underwriter is The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Family Foundation. I'm Emi Ferguson. Good night.

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New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.

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