The Hammond Performing Arts Series Presents the 2015 New England Regional Finalists Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (March 27, 2015) – Saul Cohen, President of Hammond Residential Real Estate in Chestnut Hill, is pleased to announce that the next concert in the Hammond Performing Arts Series will take place at 3 p.m. on April 19 at the Ruth Corkin Theater at the Brimmer & May School, 69 Middlesex Avenue, Chestnut Hill. The concert will be hosted by pianist John Moriarty, and will feature performances by soprano Laura Soto-Bayomi, tenor Jesse Darden and bass-baritone Daniel Noyola, who are among the 2015 New England Regional Finalists of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Soprano Laura Soto-Bayomi grew up in New Jersey and started performing as a child when she began figure skating. She followed this passion until she began voice and piano lessons and enrolled in Mannes Preparatory to study voice, flute and piccolo. She received her Bachelor of Music degree at New England Conservatory of Music in 2013 and is currently in the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard College. She will be a Studio Artist at Chautauqua Opera.

Tenor Jesse Darden is in his first year at Boston University Opera Institute. He holds degrees in music and voice from the University of North Carolina and Ohio State University, and he was a Fletcher Fellow with the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute. He received the Chautauqua Opera Studio Artist Award in 2013 and returned as Apprentice Artist in 2014.

Bass-Baritone Daniel Noyola hails from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. A 2012 graduate of Conervatorio Nacional in Mexico City, he is currently a second Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Recent awards include the John Moriarty Encouragement Award in the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council New England Finals, Emerging Artist Award in the Opera Index Competition in 2014, and the Herman Marcus Memorial Award, Concurso Nacional de Opera de San Miguel in 2014. In February 2015 he performed Mustafa in the Tri-Cities Opera production of Italian Girl in Algiers.

John Moriarty has conducted and stage-directed productions at opera companies throughout the United States, including the Boston Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theater of St. Louis. After retiring as chairman of the Opera Department at New England Conservatory in 2001, Moriarty continues to be on the faculty where he teaches Collaborative Piano and Vocal Coaching. For the past fifty years, he has been the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Council Auditions in Boston.

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions program began in 1954 and now includes 13 regions of the United States and Canada with a total of 42 districts. National Council members and volunteers in the in the regions administer the auditions. Judges are music professionals. The purpose of the program is to discover and assist exceptional young artists in developing their talent. Winners of the District auditions advance to their Region Finals where they compete to win a trip to New York to participate in the National Semi-Finals, a competition held on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. Approximately ten of the Semi-Finalists are selected as National Finalists and compete the following Sunday in a public concert, the Grand Finals Concert, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The jury awards approximately five Grand Winner awards of $15,000 each. The concert is broadcast nationwide on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Network. Several of the performers who have participated in the Hammond Performing Arts Series have gone on to perform on the Metropolitan Opera stage. Hammond agent Pauline Ho Bynum has been the New England Regional Chairman for the Metropolitan National Council Auditions since 1984.

Throughout its twenty-two year history, Hammond, which is headquartered in Chestnut Hill, has made the visual and performing arts the primary focus of its corporate philanthropy. In 1996, the Hammond Performing Arts Series was created to enrich the cultural communities that Hammond services, as well as to provide talented up-and-coming musicians with performance opportunities. Hammond regularly presents admission-free concerts in Boston, Chestnut Hill, Concord, Hingham, Lexington, and Weston. In addition, Hammond’s South End, Hingham and Hull offices prominently display revolving exhibits featuring well-known artists from the area.

Reservations for the April 19 concert are currently being accepted. If you are interested in attending, please call 617-731-4644 x 254 to reserve your complimentary seats.

To learn more, please visit http://www.hammondre.com/community-outreach/performing-arts-series.html.