SBU Judges for Austria Competition

The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University was represented again this year on the panel of judges for the annual New York qualifying round of the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna, Austria.

Among the judges for the New York competition, held in May at The Metropolitan Opera, were Joseph A. LoSchiavo, associate vice president and executive director of The Quick Center, and Ludwig Brunner, the center’s director of programming.

Brunner has organized the New York qualifying round since 1990 and has served as a judge since 1998. LoSchiavo has been a judge in the event since 2000. The panel included a roster of international singers including Faye Robinson and Kenneth Riegel, both of whom have been quest performers at The Quick Center.

New York was one of 50 cities around the world that hosted qualifying rounds in the international competition. About 3,000 young singers took part in the event, with 159 of them – five from the New York competition – qualifying for the final rounds in Vienna, which were held at the Vienna Chamber Opera in July.

Guanqun Yu, a soprano from China, won first prize at this year’s international competition. Igor Bakan, a bass-baritone from Lithuania, placed second and Heidi Melton, a soprano from the United States, was third. In addition to generous prize money, the three won performing contracts at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, and The Washington (D.C) Opera, among several others.