Richard Tucker Award goes to AVA grad - again
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Artswatch
Richard Tucker Award goes to AVA grad - again
Peter Dobrin, Inquirer Classical Music Critic
Soprano Ailyn Pérez, a 2006 graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts, is recipient of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award - the fourth AVA grad to win the award in as many years (after Angela Meade in 2011, tenor James Valenti in 2010 and tenor Stephen Costello - Pérez’ husband - in 2009).
The award, which comes with a $30,000 prize, is given annually "to an American singer poised on the edge of a major national and international career." Past winners include Renée Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Stephanie Blythe and Matthew Polenzani.
Two current AVA atudents, bass-baritone Scott Conner and mezzo-soprano Margaret Mezzacappa, were awarded 2012 $5,000 Sara Tucker Study Grants.
Peter Dobrin is a classical music critic and culture writer for The Inquirer. Since 1989, he has written music reviews, features, news and commentary for the paper, covering such topics as the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the Venice Biennale, expansion of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Philadelphia Orchestra's bankruptcy declaration in 2011, Philadelphia's evolving performing arts center and the general health of arts and culture.
Dobrin was a French horn player. He earned an undergraduate degree in performance from the University of Miami, and received a master's degree in music criticism from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Elliott Galkin. He has no time to practice today.
