Previous winners have included a range of vocalists and instrumentalists. This year, for the first time, the prize is shared by two sopranos, Elena Bird of Kenai and Sydnee Waggoner of Anchorage.
Both are home-grown products, born and educated in Alaska. Bird studied with Anastasia Jamieson and Waggoner with Marlene Bateman. Both have drawn positive attention as they continue their studies out of state and worked themselves into choice solo slots.
We asked the two to provide a little information about themselves. Each has a resume that would fill the rest of this section, but the most important details -- how they sing -- will need to be experienced in person, when they present their debut recital at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church this Friday.
Name: Elena Teresa Bird
Born: Anchorage, May 13, 1987
Graduated: Kenai Central High School
College: Initially St. Olaf's College; most recently the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she earned a bachelor's degree in music.
Parents: Bob and Rosemary Bird
What hooked her on music:
"Music was always alive in our house growing up. My brothers and I took piano lessons and were in choir and band. My dad still loves to listen to Big Band and I still beg my mom to accompany me on the piano when I'm home, to show her my latest aria. I was recently watching an old home video of my brother practicing a solo for an elementary school musical with my mom following him at the piano. When he was done, I came up and took his place and sang all the words I had memorized and could pronounce. I was one and a half years old."
Resume highlights:
"Recently I had the opportunity to sing a principal role, Miss Wordsworth at CU Opera in Benjamin Britten's "Albert Herring." It was amazing. It was my first role with a full orchestra, and we had a fantastic and absolutely inspiring guest director. As a young singer, you wait so long for your turn on stage. After the first orchestra rehearsal, I called my mom and told her, 'After four years of study, and a lot of money, I'm so glad to find out that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.' "
Dream roles:
Zerbinetta in "Ariadne auf Naxos" and Sophie in "Der Rosenkavalier," both by Richard Strauss.
What she'll sing on Friday:
Some Lute Songs by John Dowland, three early Debussy pieces, an aria from Bellini's "I Capuletti e i Montecchi" as Giulietta, a set by the composer Dominick Argento and, my favorite, some Richard Strauss.
Plans for the future:
This year she will continue her studies with her voice teacher, Patrick Mason, privately in Boulder. "I hope to go to graduate school to get my master's in voice in the next year or two and, in the meanwhile, make enough money to pay for rent, feed my dog and visit my nephew as often as possible. I've learned that assuming I know my plans leads to ingratitude, so other than that, I just hope to frequent the stage as often as the audience will have me."
Other honors: Gloria Allen Scholarship (2005); Salzburg, Austria summer studied (2007); Alaska Junior Miss (2005). Of the last, she recalls competing in the July heat of Mobile, Ala., then rushing back to Alaska to work the set-net subsistence salmon harvest with her brother, Quincy. "A real shock to the system," she says.
Factoid: Her father is political activist, Constitution enthusiast and recurrent candidate Bob Bird.
Name: Sydnee Nicole Waggoner
Born: Anchorage, Nov. 29, 1986
Graduated: East Anchorage High School
College: Attended Boston University's College of Fine Arts on a full academic scholarship, graduating cum laude with a bachelor's degree in music
Parents: Kirk Waggoner and Stephanie Lawley
What hooked her on music:
I am the quintessential middle child, who always loved attention, thus leading me to the stage. As a kid I started out in community theater, acting and dancing in dramas and musicals, anything that would allow me to perform. I was a pianist and violinist before I started taking singing very seriously. I began my vocal training in Anchorage under the in instruction of Marlene Titus Bateman at age 11. I saw my first opera at Anchorage Opera at the student dress rehearsal. It was "Rigoletto." I vividly remember seeing the lead soprano singing while lying on her back. I was stunned -- and fell in love. I just feel singing transcends the human condition by its limitless ability to portray emotion and opera unites the forms of acting and singing.
Resume highlights:
Singer in summer residence with OperaTampa's and Disney's V.O.I.C.Experience with star Met baritone Sherrill Milnes (2007, 2008 and 2009); Young Artist Scholarship with the Florestan Project at Songfest Young Artist Program at Pepperdine University (2007); soprano soloist in Vaughan William's "Dona Nobis Pacem" with the Anchorage Youth Symphony and Anchorage Concert Chorus (2002).
Dream roles:
Gilda in "Rigoletto" and Violetta in "La Traviata," both by Guiseppe Verdi, Susanna in "The Marriage of Figaro" (Mozart) and Olympia in "Tales of Hoffman" (Offenbach). She says, "My favorite soprano of the moment, Anna Netrebko ... is the epitome of a singing-actress."
What she'll sing on Friday:
French art songs ("I was a French Language and Literature minor") and some contemporary, fun American pieces, such as Libby Larsen's "Cowboy Songs."
Plans for the future:
After her duties as Miss Alaska wind down, she plans to pursue her master's degree in opera or receive an artist diploma in a nationally recognized young artist program.
Other honors:
College Division Winner of the Anchorage Concert Chorus's Vocal Scholarship Competition in 2007 and the winner of the High School Division in 2005; currently Miss Alaska (she performed Juliette's Waltz, "Je veux vivre," from Charles Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette" during the talent portion of the pageant).
Factoid:
At Boston University, she was a featured national anthem singer at games of the NCAA men's hockey national champion Boston Terriers.
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