Arts & Entertainment
Joseph Barron's Big Voice Garners Big Opera Win
Pine-Richland graduate takes top honors in Metropolitan Opera's annual auditions.
If Jackie Evancho is the only name that comes to mind when you hear the words “Pine-Richland” and “singer,” it’s time to meet Joseph Barron.
The 2004 Pine-Richland High School graduate sang his way to a $15,000 award Sunday in the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious 2011 National Council Auditions.
Barron, a bass-baritone from Richland Township, was one of four winners at the Grand Finals Concert in New York. Nearly 1,500 singers competed in 41 districts and 14 regions throughout the United States and Canada.
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This was Barron’s third appearance in the competition. He was a past winner in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regional competitions.
Barron sang Mephistopheles’ Serenade, an aria from Faust, in front of a sold-out audience of 3,800 and accompanied by the full Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Past winners of the Met auditions include opera stars Stephanie Blythe, Renée Fleming and Ben Heppner.
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Barron admitted to some nervousness but said, “It’s what I do and what I dream of, so it was very enjoyable.”
The 25-year-old decided to pursue an opera career after participating in a six-week Carnegie Mellon precollege performance program as a rising high school senior.
Pine-Richland High School Choral Director Lee Rickard recalled Barron as a standout talent even in high school.
"Joseph was one of the most outstanding high school singers I have ever met,” Rickard said. “His voice as a teenager was extraordinary, and his drive for singing was unparalleled. I am so excited for him as he begins his professional singing career."
Barron is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He has been a member of young artists programs at Glimmerglass Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Currently a voice student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Barron plans to use his prize money to further his career. After he completes his studies, his likely next step would be an internship with a major opera house’s young artists program.
Ultimately he would like to make the Metropolitan Opera his permanent professional home.
“My dream role is to wake up every day and know that the career I’ve chosen is also one that I love," he said.
