Angela Meade ’01 Vocal Competition Returns to PLU for Fourth Year

Pacific Lutheran University will host the fourth annual Angela Meade Vocal Competition on Nov. 3, 2024, offering students the chance to experience the atmosphere of professional vocal auditions. Internationally acclaimed soprano and PLU alumna Angela Meade ’01 founded the competition in 2018 to provide students with opportunities for growth in the competitive world of opera.

“The Angela Meade competition provides valuable professional development in the form of cash for travel and supplemental coaching, and access to Angela’s extensive professional network,” said James Brown, professor of music at PLU.

Meade and her husband, John Myers, also an opera singer, selected this year’s seven finalists—Caitlyn Babcock, Caitlyn Carnahan, Emily Morse, Claire Schwartz, Isaiah Utto-Galarneau, Mariana Vargas, and Dominic Walker. The finalists will perform in front of a live audience on Nov. 3, and a judging panel that includes Michaella Calzaretta, head of music staff and Chorusmaster of Seattle Opera, and Andrew Krikawa, operatic baritone and co-founder of Vashon Opera, will judge them. Once the finalists are determined, one guest judge from the PLU voice faculty will be selected.

The finalists, chosen from a rigorous audition process, will compete for cash prizes and a grand prize that includes a trip to hear Meade perform and a private consultation with her. The competition awards $250 for third place, $500 for second place, and $1,000 for first place, along with the trip.

Meade, the recipient of both the 2012 Metropolitan Opera Beverly Sills Artist Award and the 2011 Richard Tucker Award, has triumphed in 57 vocal competitions throughout her career. She reimagined the Angela Meade Vocal Performance Endowed Scholarship Fund to create this competition, believing that a professional-level platform would better prepare students for careers in opera.

The competition begins at 3 p.m. in Lagerquist Hall and is free and open to the public.

PLU’s vibrant vocal and choral program welcomes students from all academic disciplines and offers many performance opportunities, continuing the university’s legacy of fostering musical excellence.

For more information, visit www.plu.edu/music.