After ‘American Idol’ has taken the nation by storm, the Savannah VOICE Festival is delivering a unique twist to this phenomenon with the staging of ‘Opera Idol’ to kick off the Festival’s last weekend.  From 5.00pm-7.00pm on Friday August 15^th, audiences will be able to experience the audition process up close and personal.   Artists will compete to win this new Festival competition as the VOICE Faculty serve as a discerning panel of judges and names the 2014 Festival’s ‘Opera Idol’. Tickets are $18 plus tax. 

Sherrill Milnes, opera legend and Artistic Director of the Savannah VOICE Festival explains “We have been running something similar for many years through VOICExperience (the Festival’s sister organization) calling it ‘Mission Audition’ but decided to have some fun with the format and transform it into ‘Opera Idol’ as we know that Savannah audiences will enjoy the competitive aspect”. 

The competition is only open to artists who have been part of the intensive training of the Savannah VOICE Festival for the last two weeks.  Maria Zouves, Executive Director of the Savannah VOICE Festival comments “Audiences will not have seen many of the artists perform since the ‘Death By Aria’ events at the beginning of the Festival.  Since then artists have studied intensively at the Westin Savannah Harbor, which is transformed into a musical conservatory for the duration of the Festival. Audiences will not only enjoy the event but will better understand how much our singers have developed during this time. The Faculty – our teachers for the Festival - will act as the judges and we are keeping the ticket price low to encourage people to experience how artists at auditions are not judged solely on their musical ability but also on their presentation, acting skills, confidence and more”. 

To buy tickets, join the VOICE Society or for more information about the VOICE Festival’s plans, visit www.savannahvoicefestival.org, email [email protected] or call 855.76.OPERA