9th Annual: Mexico/Canada Concert [] Opera San Miguel

ÓPERA DE SAN MIGUEL (OSM) is dedicated to discovering and cultivating the careers of the most talented and promising young opera singers in Mexico.  Through its annual national contest, Concurso San Miguel, OSM promotes singers’ professional aspirations through grants for advanced study, professional expenses and by providing performing experience. Since its first contest in 2008, Concurso San Miguel has grown from a small regional contest to become the most effective opera organization in the nation for advancing the careers of aspiring young operatic artists.  At its 10^th Anniversary Concurso in 2018, OSM presented in excess of $600,000 MXN in grants and performing opportunities, far exceeding any other annual contest in Mexico. All grant money is raised privately from individuals and local businesses in San Miguel de Allende. Each year, OSM Artistic Director John Bills considers well over 100 applicants to the Concurso.  He then invites 10 to 12 finalists to spend a week in San Miguel de Allende where they participate in musical, dramatic and language coaching, career counseling and master classes, all conducted by a prestigious jury of international opera luminaries. By bringing young, exciting, and often world-class operatic talent to San Miguel de Allende, OSM enriches both our city and the nation. Its events, which are open to all segments of the community, offer exposure to one of the world’s greatest art forms while encouraging the artistic and professional development of today’s rising young opera stars. Concurso San Miguel winners have achieved a level of success internationally that was unheard of for Mexican singers just a few short years ago. It’s singers have made professional operatic debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Los Angeles Opera, the Santa Fe Opera; in Canada with the Quebec Opera; in Europe with the San Carlo Opera in Naples, Opera Bologna, Teatre Liceu in Barcelona, and the opera companies of Basel (Switzerland), Innbruck (Austria), Hannover, Regensburg and Lubeck (Germany), the Taormina Festival (Sicily), the Netherlands Touring Opera and Abu Dabi. OSM singers have concertized in Amsterdam (the Concertgebouw), Russia (the Tchaikovsky Conservatory), Slovakia, Istanbul and China. In addition, five OSM singers each have been full scholarship recipients to Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia (AVA) and Placido Domingo’s operatic training program in Valencia, Spain.