Lotte Lenya Competition First Place Awarded To Matthew Grills

Matthew Grills, the son of Joan Moreno and Joseph Grills of Newtown, who is a 2004 graduate of Newtown High School and a student in the master’s program for vocal performance and music literature at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y, was one of five winners recently in the 2012 New York City Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals Concert.

On Saturday, April 21, the tenor once again impressed judges, this time to win first prize in the 2012 Lotte Lenya Competition at the Eastman School of Music.

Lotte Lenya (1898–1981) was a singer/actress known for interpretations of the music of her husband, composer Kurt Weill (1900–1950).

In a press release from the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, which established the competition in 1998, and published on website kwf.org on April 23, it is noted that “this is the first time that the top prize in both the Lotte Lenya Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions was won by the same contestant…”

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions focus on vocal ability alone, but in the Lotte Lenya Competition, Matthew was able to draw from his extensive experiences in acting, as well.

“Contestants must present fully acted, idiomatic performances of repertoire ranging from opera to contemporary musical theater. At the Lenya Competition finals, Grills transitioned with ease from a performance of  ‘Ah, mes amis’ from Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment — an aria with nine high Cs — to a powerfully acted rendition of ‘If I Didn’t Believe in You’ from Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years,” said the press release.

Matthew was awarded a first place prize of  $15,000.