The Metropolitan Opera
National Council Auditions

March 2014 Performance

Grand Finals Winner
The Metropolitan Opera House  |  New York City, NY

Reviews:

"Two of the winners were audience favorites, judging from the ovations. The Kentucky-born soprano Amanda Woodbury brought a rich, expressive voice and noble phrasing to “Non mi dir,” from Don Giovanni, and displayed coloratura agility, sparkle and character in an aria from Thomas’s Hamlet." —Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

"Soprano Amanda Woodbury sang “Non mi dir” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni with lovely, elegant tone and quicksilver fioriture. She also delivered a deeply felt Mad Scene from Thomas’s Hamlet, replete with good French, a gorgeous upper register, dead-on high notes, and a perfect trill." —Eric Myers, New York Classical Review

"In the second half, the soprano from the young artist program at the Los Angeles Opera sang the far longer, more intricate "A vos Jeux, mes amis" from Thomas's Hamlet. Winning, after that, wasn't just probable but an inevitability. Words were more deeply animated, colors more numerous and a level of vocalism that once challenged Joan Sutherland was accomplished with a good sense of the scene's overall shape." —David Patrick Stearns, WQXR Operavore