The University of Colorado Boulder College of Music is opening Grusin Music Hall to the top high school vocalists in the region
On Saturday, Dec. 10, the voice department hosts the Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition, one of the nation’s largest singing competitions for high school students.
Organized by the William E. Schmidt Foundation and named for longtime Indiana arts supporter Bill Schmidt, the competition is held in 15 different locales around the country and offers more than $200,000 in prize money to young singers every year.
“It’s a big deal to host it because it gives us a chance to meet these talented singers and showcase the strengths of our voice department,” says tenor and Assistant Professor of Voice Matthew Chellis, who helped bring the event to Boulder this year.
In the past, the competition has been held at places like Seattle Opera and the New England Conservatory. Ben Smolder, director of the Schmidt Foundation and the opera program at Miami University of Ohio, says the decision to bring the competition to Colorado for the first time had a lot to do with geography—and the standing of the vocal program at CU.
At a time when competitiveness with peer institutions is steep, Chellis says he and his colleagues are thrilled to be able to interact closely with the brightest talent in the West.
One perk of hosting the daylong event is the brief presentation the voice department gives to contestants while the judges are tallying votes.
Chellis serves as an adjudicator, along with William Florescu from the Florentine Opera Company. Dana Brown from Roosevelt University plays piano.
In addition to the competition, which is open to high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, the Schmidt Foundation hosts a master class with the judges and offer the winner a chance to participate in the organization’s summer music program.
And perhaps the biggest incentive for CU Boulder to play host: the Schmidt Foundation offers a $2,000 matching scholarship for the winning singer to whichever music program hosts the event.
More than 5,000 young singers have participated in the competition over the past 30 years, including many who have gone on to do big things—such as the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions. The Schmidt Foundation partners with the Kennedy Center, the National Opera Center, Cincinnati Opera and others.