Awards for 2019-2020

The William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation awarded five $10,000 grants to young artists who auditioned for the Foundation in New York on November 10 and 11, 2019. In addition to these cash awards, winners will participate in the five-year program of continued financial aid for coaching in new roles, which is one of the unique features of the Sullivan awards. Judges for the auditions were Andrew Jorgensen, Susanne Mentzer, and Craig Rutenberg, all members of the Foundation’s board.

The Sullivan Winners

Winners of $10,000 awards and continuing assistance for five years starting in 2020 are: soprano Elizabeth Polese, mezzo-soprano Katherine DeYoung, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, and baritones Kidon Choi and Jarrett Porter. These awards are named in memory of distinguished former Sullivan Foundation board members: Elizabeth Polese’s award for soprano Gail Robinson, director of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program; Katherine DeYoung’s award for mezzo-soprano Betty Allen, leader of the Harlem School for the Arts; Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen’s award for tenor David Lloyd, executive director of the Sullivan Foundation; Jarrett Porter’s award for baritone Theodor Uppman; and Kidon Choi’s award for soprano Rose Bampton. These artists join the current roster of recent Sullivan award winners, all of whom are eligible to apply to the Foundation for additional support to prepare new opera roles or works with full orchestra.

The panel also awarded $2,500 Career Development Grants to four singers: mezzo-soprano Simona Genga, tenor Richard Trey Smagur, baritone Christopher Kenney, and bass William Meinert.

Download the awards press release here.