Calling Cincinnati Singers

"American Idol" has spun off into Cincinnati with "Opera Idol," a community-wide search for "Cincinnati's next opera star."  Grand prize is a $3,500 contract with Cincinnati Opera. 
   Preliminary auditions are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 6 at Music Hall.  Auditions (closed to the public) will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis, and all voices and music styles are welcome.  Judging will be by a team of opera experts. 
   Singers will have three minutes each to perform a selection of their choice. Auditions will be unaccompanied and recorded on video.  Semi-finalists (10-12) will be announced by noon June 9.
   Semi-finals are set for June 24 in Jarson-Kaplan Theater at the Aronoff Center before a panel of high profile judges (to be announced).  The event will be a public concert, and audience members will be invited to cast their votes at intermission.
   Five finalists will be selected and their videos posted on the Internet to give viewers an opportunity to vote online.
   The winner will be announced at the end of the opera's summer season.
   Admission to the semi-finals concert is $10.

   To be eligible a singer must:

•  be 18 or older as of June 5, 2009


• reside within Greater Cincinnati (defined as within a 60-mile radius of   the city)

• be a U.S. citizen or have valid working documents

• not have had a paid singing engagement with a professional opera, orchestra or theater company within the past 25 years

• not have a talent agent or manager

• not be a member of AGMA (American Guild of Musical Artists) or Actors Equity

   Board members and employees of Cincinnati Opera and their immediate family members are not eligible.
   Information is available at www.cincinnatiopera.org, or call (513) 768-5578.