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 We have wonderful news to share about our Career Bridges Winners.
We are very proud of the accomplishments of our singers, and our
three-year mentoring and nurturing program has enabled many of them
to fulfill their dream of a career. Barbara and I are deeply appreciative
of your continuing interest and support which makes this all possible
and look forward to seeing you at our future events.
Wishing you the very best,
Barbara and David
Career Bridges 2011 Gala
Our 9th annual Gala was held in New York City at the Jumeirah Essex House on May 17, 2011. In
addition to presenting our 2011 Career Bridges Winners in concert, the evening featured a silent
auction which included the jewelry and handbags of Rafael Sanchez, vacation trips, restaurants and
artwork. Celebrities who came to the pre-concert cocktails and dinner included Mario-Max Prince
Schaumburg-Lippe who was interviewed for Channel 7 and Berlin TV station SFB for future broadcasts.
Other celebrity guests attending were Metropolitan Opera sopranos Roberta Peters and Elinor Ross,
Margaret Juntwait (the voice of the Metropolitan Opera), Celeste Holm, Frank Gentile, KT Sullivan
and Marni Nixon. Our Distinguished Achievement Award winners were Metropolitan Opera Stars Denyce
Graves and Lucine Amara.
   
(Lucine Amara, Denyce Graves, Margaret Juntwait, Alexander Kisselev)
The dinner was interspersed with solos and duets featuring the 2011 winners and an aria from our guest
star, Russian Bass Alexander Kisselev. A highlight of the evening was a presentation of the Waxman
Carmen Fantasie featuring three Carmens: the dancing of Sarah Steele, the singing of guest artist, Malena
Dayen and the virtuoso violin playing of Chun-Wen Wang sponsored by the Friends of the London
Philharmonic.
News of our Career Bridges Winners
 Jose Alvarez (2008 Winner) debuts in 2011 with Boston Lyric Opera as Narciso in
Agrippina and Fort Worth Opera as Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare. In 2010, he joined the
Houston Grand Opera roster for their production of Xerxes.
 Sarah Heltzell (2010 Winner) is singing the role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with
four companies: Indianapolis, Syracuse, Opera on the James and Nevada Opera, as well
as Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos with Winter Opera Saint Louis.
 Yonghoon Lee (2005 Winner) began the 2010/2011 season with this debut at the Lyric
Opera of Chicago as Don Jose in Carmen and a debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the
title role of the new production of Don Carlo. His debut at the Teatro alla Scala in
January of 2011 as Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana was followed in March 2011 at the
Semper Oper in Dresden in Tosca and a debut in the same work at the Vienna State
Opera in April 2011. In May 2011 he returned to the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma as
Arrigo in Verdi's rarely performed La Battaglia di Legnano. He sang Don Carlo on the
Metropolitan Opera's tour of Japan in June of 2011 and will return to the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of
2011 as Ismaele in Nabucco.
 Rebecca Jo Loeb (2009 Winner) is singing this summer at the Aix-en-Provence
Contemporary Music Festival before she joins the ensemble of the Hamburgishche
Staatsoper where she will be singing Siebel in Faust, Rosina in il Barbieri di Siviglia and
Hansel in Hansel und Gretel, among other roles.
 Jonathan Michie (2009 Winner) has been kept busy singing with the San Francisco
Merola Opera Program and at Florida Grand Opera. He was recently praised in San
Franciso for his Figaro: “Michie, a dazzling young baritone, took the title role of Figaro
and turned it into a vehicle for both vocal mastery and theatrical panache. His singing was
fluid, precise and full of burnished colors, and he brought a seemingly effortless charisma
to everything he did.” He appears this fall with the Slovenia Philharmonic in Ljubljana,
Slovenia.
 In a performance of H.M.S. Pinafore at the Caramoor International Music Festival in June,
Jorell Williams (2008 Winner) impressed a New York Times critic who said, "Jorell
Williams was a magnificent, rich-toned Captain Corcoran. His comic timing was perfect."
He makes a featured baritone appearance at the Ravinia Music Festival in Chicago this
summer.
“Who Wants to be an Opera Star?”
"Who Wants to be an Opera Star?"came to life on November 17, 2009, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at
Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City to answer that very question. The gala concert featured 5
of our talented young Career Bridges Grant Winners who sang before a panel of celebrity judges with the
audience casting ballots to choose their favorite singer. Those who competed for the grand prize of a
concert appearance in Vienna were Soprano Samantha Grenell-Zaidman, Soprano Valentina Fleer, Tenor
Laurence Broderick, Baritone Jorell Williams, and Baritone Jonathan Gabriel Michie. (Soprano Michelle
Trovato was also scheduled to sing, but had to withdraw due to illness.) Jorell Williams won the expensepaid
recital in Vienna, Austria in April 2010, and was received there to great acclaim. A DVD of "Who
Wants to be an Opera Star?" will soon be released.
How You Can Make a Difference
A donation to Career Bridges helps us help our singers realize their dreams, but your donation may
also be directed specifically towards areas in which you are personally excited:
Technology
Your gift helps with promotion, support materials, social media, CDs and digital capture of
performances.
2012 Annual Gala (which will take place at the Jumirah Essex House on May 15, 2012)
Underwrite the whole evening as Corporate sponsor
Purchase a Corporate table
Sponsor a particular singer (3-year commitment)
Underwrite Special Productions
There are select, highly anticipated Career Bridges Special Productions throughout
the year which are marquee showcases for our singers and are recognized in the
global opera industry. Many of these events offer the opportunity for underwriting
sponsorship and leadership They range from the more traditional European competition
events to the latest HD/Live Performance series "Who Wants To Be
An Opera Star?" which provides an American Idol-type showcase for young opera
singers outside of the pop culture program.
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