Rexford Tester is a Metropolitan Opera Auditions Finalist

Westminster Choir College graduate student and tenor Rexford Tester was one of nine Finalists who sang in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions's Grand Finals Concert at the Met on Sunday, March 30, 2014.  Accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, he performed "Laguir oer una bella" from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri and "Here I Stand" from Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress.  

Tester is a second-year graduate student studying voice pedagogy and performance at Westminster Choir College and an alumnus of the CoOPERAtive Program. He has appeared in the role of Rinuccio in Westminster Opera Theatre’s production of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi in December. Last season, he performed the title role in The Tales of Hoffmann at Westminster and the role of Tonio in the CoOPERAtive Program's production of La Fille du Régiment.  A student of Laura Brooks Rice, he is the seventh Westminster student or alumnus to make it to the Met Finals competition. 

After receiving his master’s degree in 2014, he will enter Santa Fe Opera’s prestigious apprentice program, where he will cover the role of Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and sing in the chorus for the other operas during the season. 

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. Many of the world’s foremost singers, among them Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick have received awards from the National Council. Annually, approximately 100 former auditioners appear in Metropolitan Opera productions.