FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          April 13, 2004

ALEK SHRADER TO SING WITH OPERA THEATRE OF SAINT LOUIS

            Alek Shrader of Alva, a senior at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, this summer will make his first professional engagement as a singer with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) as a Gerdine Young Artist.

            The Opera Theatre offers a festival season each summer of quality productions sung in English by the best young American singers, all accompanied by members of the Saint Louis Symphony. The audience is comprised of visitors from throughout the United States, as well as various foreign countries.

            The 2004 season begins with the powerful drama, Bizet’s Carmen, and a double bill of one-acts by two of opera’s great composers, Puccini’s Sister Angelica and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Cimarosa’s comedy, The Secret Marriage, and the first major American production (since the Peter Sellars’ original) of John Adams’ modern classic, Nixon in China, finish out the season’s bill.

            Many arts professionals entered the field as OTSL interns and apprentices. Each year the roster at the Metropolitan Opera includes more than 50 artists who appeared with the company early in their careers. The company’s dedication to the careers of young Americans is reflected in the quality of its programs at all levels, from the long rehearsal periods that nurture young singers to the seminars and mentor programs offered to technical apprentices.

            The Ford Foundation chose OTSL as one of two “exemplary” U.S. companies to win major grants in 2000, not only for its artistic quality, but also for its emergence as a center for training young professions in all aspects of opera.

“Instead of being a lifeguard this summer, I’m getting paid to go sing in the opera,” Shrader said. “This is what I’ve chosen for my career. Eventually, I will sing year-round, not just in the summer. It’s really a great opportunity; a really good entry point into a professional career.”

            Shrader began his final semester by competing in the 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where he was the winner of the prestigious Young Singer Encouragement Award.

            The purpose of the Metropolitan auditions is to discover exceptional young talent, to provide a venue for young opera singers from all over the country and at all levels of experience to be heard by a representative of the Metropolitan Opera, to assist those with the greatest potential in their development and to identify new talent for the Met and for possible participants in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

            Applicants must have a voice with operatic potential—exceptional quality, range, projection, communication and natural beauty, as well as musical training and background. Applicants must be able to sing in more than one language and show artistic aptitude.

            Shrader will graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in vocal music education. He plans to enter the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, this fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and a master’s degree in opera theatre. He received the Dean’s Scholarship to attend.

            While at Northwestern, he was a four-year recipient of the Regional Baccalaureate Scholarship and named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. He authored the scripts for three Madrigal Feastes and arranged several choral arrangements for small ensembles.

            In opera workshop, he performed the role of Toby in The Medium, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, Aristeus/Pluto in Orpheus in the Underworld and Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte. He placed first in the junior men and senior men Oklahoma competitions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and was fourth in the Texoma Region.

            Shrader received additional training at the Vocal Pedagogy and Performance Institute at Emporia State University (Kan.), in a German immersion course at the Austriacum in Salzburg, Austria, and at the Mozarteum, also in Salzburg.

-NW-

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