Kurt Weill Foundation: Lotte Lenya Competition 2011 for singers/actors

In 1998, to honor the centenary of the birth of Lotte Lenya (1898-1981), an extraordinary singer/actress and one of the foremost interpreters of the music of her husband, Kurt Weill (1900-1950), the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music established an annual Lotte Lenya Competition.

The competition recognizes talented young singer/actors who are dramatically and musically convincing in contrasting modes of theater music by Kurt Weill and other composers.

More than a vocal competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition is a theater singing competition that emphasizes wide-ranging repertoire and the acting of songs and arias within a dramatic context.

Finalists selected from DVD auditions and live semi-finals will each receive an award of $500, plus a stipend to defray costs of travel, if any, to the finals in Rochester, NY, USA, on 16 April 2011.

The 2011 competition will award prizes equivalent to:
* 1st Prize: $15,000
* 2nd Prize: $10,000
* 3rd Prize: $7,500

In addition, the judges may give special Lys Symonette Awards at their discretion.

ELIGIBILITY
The Lotte Lenya Competition is open to singer/actors aged 19-30 who were born after 31 December 1980 and before 1 January 1992. Contestants may be citizens of any nation.

Contestants must prepare four selections:
* one aria from the operatic or operetta repertoire (not by Kurt Weill);
* one theatrical selection by Kurt Weill;
* one song from the "Golden Age" (pre-1968) American musical theater repertoire (this may be another selection by Weill); and
* one song from the American musical theater repertoire originating in 1968 or later.