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Westminster Alumnae Perform at Met Opera's Grand Finals Concert

Dísella Làrusdóttir and Kiera Duffy

Westminster Choir College of Rider University graduates Kiera Duffy and Dísella Làrusdóttir sang in the Metropolitan Opera Council’s National Audition Grand Finals Concert on April 1 at the Met in New York. They were joined by nine other finalists from around the country for the festive event hosted by Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe. Each performed two arias with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra before an enthusiastic audience that included opera fans from around the world, as well as Westminster faculty, staff, students and alumni.

The Grand Finals Concert culminated a series of competitions for each singer, beginning with thousands of singers auditioning in 45 districts throughout the United States and Canada. Winners of the district competitions went on to 15 regional competitions. The regional winners competed last week in the semi-finals, and 11 singers were selected to compete in the Grand Finals Concert. Following the concert, six singers were selected as the Grand Finals winners. Although neither Westminster alumna was a winner, Disella received the $5,000 Metropolitan Opera Award and Kiera received the $5,000 Judith Raskin Award.

"It is hard to express how incredibly proud I am of Kiera and Dísella and to be called their teacher is such an honor,” said Westminster Professor of Voice Laura Brooks Rice, who teaches both singers. “Both of them have been exposed to the best that Westminster has to offer musically and academically and exceed the high standards that my colleagues expect. It was a thrill to hear them on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera and to feel the great support of all of their Westminster family and friends cheering them on.”

Soprano Kiera Duffy was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera Council’s New York District and Eastern Regional competitions. For the Grand Finals Concert, she sang "Tornami a vagheggiar" from "Alcina" and "Caro nome" from "Rigoletto." She earned a bachelor’s degree from Westminster in 2001 and a master’s degree in 2003. A native of Philadelphia, she was also Grand Prize Winner in the Marian Anderson Competition for Emerging Classical Artists and made her Opera Company of Philadelphia debut earlier this season in the role of Clorinda in its new production of Rossini’s Cinderella. This summer, she will appear as Despina in Mozart’s "Cosi fan Tutte" with the Tanglewood Orchestra and James Levine.

Soprano Dísella Làrusdóttir was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera Council’s Philadelphia District and Mid-Atlantic Regional competitions. For the Grand Finals Concert, she sang “Oh! quante volte” from "I Capuleti e I Montecchi" and “Chacun le sait” from "La Fille du Régiment.”
She earned a master’s degree from Westminster in 2005. A native of Iceland, she was a winner of Astral Artistic Services’ 2006 National Auditions and became a member of its artist roster. Earlier this year, she won the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Greenfield competition and will make her debut with the orchestra during the 2007-2008 season.

The Grand Finals Concert will be broadcast nationally later in the season. It was also filmed for a behind-the-scenes documentary about the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Dísella has also been featured in a video about the competition on “The New York Times” Web site and in a feature story in “The New York Times’” April 1 edition.