Nadine Sierra, Voice ’10, Wins Prestigious Opera Award
Nadine Sierra has performed with the Paris Opera and the Berlin State Opera, sang at the Metropolitan Opera and on NPR, and is the youngest winner ever of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition.
Now, Sierra, Voice ’10, can add another feather to her decorated cap as she has recently won the Richard Tucker Award, long considered the Heisman Trophy of opera (past winners have included opera icons Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, and Matthew Polenzani, among others). Sierra will receive $50,000 as part of the award, and will be feted at the Richard Tucker Foundation’s annual gala, to be held Sunday, December 10 at Carnegie Hall.
“I cannot thank the Richard Tucker Music Foundation enough for this incredible honor and for all the support they’ve shown me since I first auditioned for a Sara Tucker Study Grant in 2010,” said Sierra. “I am humbled to receive this award and to follow in the very large footsteps of those who have preceded me.”
Sierra isn’t the only member of the College of Performing Arts community to make headlines recently. Influential jazz publications DownBeat and JazzTimes recognized the contributions of School of Jazz members, while Melissa Danas and Denis Savelyev, both Mannes School of Music graduates, won important industry awards. Mannes Opera’s recent staging of “Vanessa” drew acclaim from the New York Times, which called the production “ambitious” and cited the growing and “groundbreaking” success of Mannes’ Opera department.