Anchorage Daily News

Creamy-voiced Anchorage mezzo-soprano Lisa Willis was one of seven young singers picked as winners in the Metropolitan Opera National Council's Western Washington District Auditions, held Oct. 25 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. She and her Western Washington co-winners will next compete in the Northwest Region competition, also in Seattle, on Jan. 25.

Willis, 29, is a student of local teachers Nancy Caudill and Dennis Goff. She won a first place in the Alaska Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition earlier this year. Her prepared arias in Seattle included works by Mascagni, Purcell, Massenet, Mozart and Robert Ward.

The big prize in this international search for up-and-coming singers ages 20-30 is the chance to work with the Met's young artist program. But it's a tough climb. Hundreds of aspiring divas and divos vie for the shot. The Western Washington District, which includes Alaska, is one of 45 such districts in the U.S. and Canada. Some draw relatively few participants and advance a single winner; others have dozens of singers and select more than one to go to the next round. Some are so crowded that eager vocalists have been known to switch to a less populous region.

Most of Sunday's 26 competitors came from the Puget Sound area, but Katherine Kosterman of Eagle River was also in the running.

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