Montclair State University Announces Sixth Annual Curtain Call Awards

The Curtain Call Award, an annual operatic singing competition for New Jersey high school juniors and seniors, will begin accepting competition submissions from now until January 9, 2014. The chosen finalists will perform in the Jed Leshowitz Recital Hall in the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 15, 2015. The winner may be offered a scholarship. The now six year old event was created in 2010 by the university’s Public Relations Student Society of America to spotlight the state’s outstanding high school classical singing talent.

In order to participate, students must submit an application form, which can be downloaded here. In addition, a letter of recommendation must also be included in the submission package with the application, and a CD or DVD video recording of one aria. The package should be mailed to: Curtain Call Awards, Montclair State University, School of Communication and Media, Morehead Hall, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, N.J.  07043. The submission deadline is Friday, January 9, 2015. A team of judges comprised of public school music teachers will select the finalists, which will be announced on Friday, January 16. The finalists will perform two arias during the final competition on February 15. Should a scholarship recipient be selected, the announcement will be made at the conclusion of the event.     

Two weeks prior to the finals, each singer will be invited to participate in a master class conducted by Cali School Professor of Music, Jeffrey Gall.

For general questions about the event, please send your e-mail to: Curtain Call Awards or Larry Weiner.

For the first two years, the Curtain Call Awards were cosponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Opera New Jersey became the cosponsor for the next two years. The Montclair State University Public Relations Student Society of America, which produces the Curtain Call Awards, won the 2006 United States Postal Service Executive Public Relations Challenge competition, performed public relations for 2006 and 2007 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, Lorena Ochoa, the fifth and ninth annual Andy Kaufman Awards in 2010, Hackensack University Medical Cancer Center, and Autism NJ.