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National Council of the Metropolitan Opera Upper Midwest Regional Auditions
1954-2004, a Brief Informal History
By James Smith and Margaret Houlton, January 2004
On February 12, 1954, the first “Regional Auditions for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air,” as they were then called, were held at Northrop Memorial Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. (The present title, “National Council of the Metropolitan Opera Upper Midwest Regional Auditions,” was first used in 1957.) One hundred and twenty-six singers performed on that first day, thirty of whom were selected to return the next day to be judged by John Gutman, assistant manager of the Metropolitan Opera.
Ethel Wagner DeLong of Anoka won the audition and was flown to New York City at the expense of the National Council. She auditioned again for representatives of the Metropolitan Opera and the American Broadcasting Corporation, and was invited to appear on the ABC program, “Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air.” She did not win the broadcast auditions, but her career was greatly enhanced, and the National Council’s regional auditions program was underway.
Getting the program started was not easy. In the early 1950s, it was becoming clear that the Auditions of the Air program, which had started in 1935 under the corporate sponsorship of the Sherwin-Williams Paint Company, was being dominated by singers from the New York City, thus losing its national character. In 1953, Mr. Gutman proposed the idea of regional auditions centers to the Metropolitan Opera National Council, which had just been founded in 1952 by Mrs. August Belmont.
Mrs. F.K. Weyerhaeuser (shown) of Saint Paul, a member of the Council (later its president and honorary president), quickly became the spearhead of the project. She offered to work with music groups and opera lovers in the Twin Cities and Duluth to organize auditions and have finalists chosen for the 1953-54 season. She invited James Lombard (shown) of the University of Minnesota to be co-chair with her, and together they asked seven leaders in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North and South Dakota to contact some 120 music organizations to recruit qualified singers for the audition.
After the first auditions, Mrs. Weyerhaeuser wrote to Mrs. Belmont of its success, and added that it might be readily duplicated so that the regional auditions could become a truly national program. Mrs. Weyerhaeuser and Mr. Lombard then organized a second audition at Northrop for February, 1955; 109 singers were heard, 29 of whom returned the next day to be judged, again by Mr. Gutman. Charlotte Reinke of Spirit Lake, Iowa, won, but was unable to go to New York City right away.
To move the National Council’s Regional Auditions initiative forward, Mr. Howard J. Hook, appointed chair of the program, traveled vigorously around the country to meet music leaders in several other cities. Through his leadership and the indispensable assistance of Mrs. Weyerhaeuser, regional auditions were organized for 1955-56 in Dallas, Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Seattle, and Tulsa, and again in the Twin Cities.
The Seattle region had already installed district auditions in six cities in the Pacific Northwest, and not long after, other regions around the country also established district auditions programs. The Upper Midwest region initiated its seven district programs in its 10th year, 1962, under the leadership of Mrs. Judson Bemis, then the regional chairperson. There are now 16 regions and 50 districts nationwide in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions program, encompassing Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean as well.
The Auditions of the Air broadcasts ended in 1958, so the incentives for the regional auditions had to be restructured. A contract with the Metropolitan Opera for particularly deserving singers had been one of the awards of the broadcast program; it was dropped when the radio program ended but would be reinstated from time to time in later years. At first, the main source of awards for the regional auditions program was the scholarship program that Mrs. Weyerhaeuser had begun in 1955-56. It was rapidly expanded to other regions, and the awards for singers at district, regional and national levels have grown steadily through the years, as can be seen in the descriptions of awards in the program.
The Upper Midwest Regional Auditions were held at Northrop Memorial Auditorium from 1954 until 1996. Then, for financial reasons, they were moved to the Ted Mann Concert Hall, also on the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis campus, for one year. And, because the MET tours no longer came to Minnesota, the University decided to drop the auditions from their budget.
The Twin Cities Opera Guild agreed to become the fiscal agent for the auditions as well as provide substantial financial and volunteer support. Alvina O’Brien, then the chair of the Upper Midwest Region, met with Kevin Smith of the Minnesota Opera to discuss holding the auditions at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts during down times of current operas. Both agreed that such an arrangement would be mutually beneficial; the Minnesota Opera became and continues to be an extraordinarily generous host in providing space, defraying costs, and providing essential technical assistance.
On March 11, 1978, the 25th year of the Upper Midwest Regional Auditions was celebrated with a “Silver Anniversary Gala” at the Minnesota Museum of Art in Saint Paul. Guests were treated to Sherill Milnes’s film, Homage to Verdi, and a performance by John Brandstetter, 1977 regional auditions winner and later a National Finalist.
A final note: The foundation of these auditions is the unflagging commitment of the volunteers, donors and sponsors who, because of their love for opera, are willing to contribute mightily and work very hard. That foundation, now the Upper Midwest Region Committee, has persevered for 50 years, and is becoming stronger each year.
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The first judges were led by a committee of 16 chaired by Hermann Herz, conductor of the Duluth Symphony Orchestra, who was assisted by James Aliferis and Edison Alspach of the University of Minnesota. Notable persons who have served as Minnesota judges, in addition to John Gutman, include Licia Albanese, Dominick Argento, Joan Dornemann, Jonathan Friend, Richard Gaddes, Evelyn Lear, Gail Robinson, Gilda Cruz-Romo, Henry Charles Smith, Rise Stevens, Italo Tajo, Benita Valente, Shirley Verrett, William Warfield, Vincen Cole, Erie Mills, John Stephens, Suzanne Menzer, and many others.
Among those who have served as Regional Chair and Director through the years are: Barbara Bemis, Carol Bowditch, Judith Boylan, Peggy Hawkes, Mrs. Roy Hollander, Norma Kindy, James Lombard, Cathy Manlove, Alvina O’Brien, Virginia Hardin Olson, Ross Smith, and Vivian O’Gara Weyerhaeuser.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Lois Hendrickson, University Archives, University of Minnesota; Alvina O’Brien, Upper Midwest Region Chair Emeritus; Cathy Manlove, former Upper Midwest Regional Director; Diane Kotrba, former Minnesota-Western Wisconsin Director; Pat Solstad, University of Minnesota Music Department.
Note on sources: Our primary source of information were the files of correspondence and documents of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Concerts and Lectures at the University Archives, and, in particular, Regional Auditions History, 1954-1968, by Theodore T.C. Bijou, Daniel F. Tritter, and Rita Shane Tritter, which we have used extensively for this brief and informal history.
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