10th Annual Mildred Miller International Voice Competition at Pittsburgh Festival Opera

Premiering online Saturday, NOVEMBER 7 at 7:00pm EST from www.pittsburghfestivalopera.org, Pittsburgh Festival Opera will present a tribute to its founder, Mildred Miller Posvar, to celebrate her lifetime achievement and continuing contributions to the world of opera. The tribute will air during the 10th Annual Mildred Miller International Voice Competition when 13 mezzo-soprano finalists will be presented in an online concert on Friday, NOVEMBER 6 at 7:00 PM EST and winners will be announced online on Sunday, NOVEMBER 8 at 7:00 PM EST. "You won't want to miss this very special tribute to our BELOVED founder Mildred Miller Posvar and the 10th Anniversary of the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition! Opera luminaries from around the world pay tribute to our Millie and there are a few wonderful surprises too. We look forward to seeing everyone for this incredibly special online event," said Marianne Cornetti, Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Festival Opera.

Mezzo-soprano Mildred Miller Posvar, 95, is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Pittsburgh Festival Opera. She was a featured artist for 23 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She appeared with every major opera company in the United States and the leading houses of Europe, and toured the world as an acclaimed recitalist. Ms. Miller is widely recognized for her work with young singers.

As a recording artist, she holds the Grand Prix du Disque for Bruno Walter's only recording of Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer. She appeared regularly on radio and television, popularizing the classics on The Bell Telephone Hour and The Voice of Firestone. She has sung to audiences as far-flung as Borneo and as all-American as the White House. She has won special acclaim for her singing of German Lieder. Her operatic roles included Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro-her debut role at the Met and her exclusive domain there for a decade; the title role in Carmen; Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier; Suzuki in Madama Butterfly; Rosina in The Barber of Seville; and Dorabella in Così fan tutte.

In 1978, Ms. Miller founded the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh (now Pittsburgh Festival Opera) as a professional company featuring emerging singers and dedicated to education and audience development. She fashioned the company after Boris Goldovsky's New England Opera Theater where she performed before beginning her career as a principal artist at the Metropolitan Opera.

Mildred Miller Posvar joins internationally acclaimed Mezzo-Sopranos Marianne Cornetti, Jane Bunnell, Nancy Maultsby and Susanne Mentzer as an adjudicator for this year's competition.

The 2020 finalists are:
Veena Akama-Makia Little Rock, AR

Lindsay Kate Brown, Waterloo, NY

Maire Therese Carmack, Seattle, WA

Alice Chung, Loma Linda, CA

Avanti Dey, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Taylor-Alexis Dupont, Orlando, FL

Khady Gueye, Bronx, NY

Emily Harmon, Barrington, NH

Kimberly Milton, Lakeland, FL

Talin Nalbandian, Los Angeles, CA

Hannah Shea, Harrisburg, PA

Hilary Grace Taylor, Dallas, TX

Kate Tombaugh, Streator, IL

Access to the competition online is free by visiting www.pittsburghfestivalopera.org, or Pittsburgh Festival Opera's Facebook at the time of airing, but a suggested donation of $35 is appreciated by clicking the donate button on the website and entering your credit card information or by calling Pittsburgh Festival Opera at 412-621-1499.

Pittsburgh Festival Opera is dedicated to presenting innovative opera, including American works, reinterpretations of older works, and new works, for the widest possible audience, focusing on diversity in programming and casting, crossing boundaries and bringing together talents from all the arts, encouraging new talent, and broadening audiences through outreach and education to create a body of work that is original, entertaining, contemporary and relevant