Congratulations to Emily Donato M.M.’19 who was awarded first prize at the tenth annual Handel Aria Competition that took place at the historic Grace Episcopal Church in Madison, Wisconsin in August. While at Yale, Emily studied as a member of the Yale Voxtet.
The annual competition is dedicated to promoting the performance of Handel’s extensive vocal repertoire. This year, there were 125 applicants from all over the world. Here is the aria Emily sang in the final, “Dunque i lacci d’un volto… Ah! crudel.”
Emily has also been a recent soprano soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, led by Maestro Kent Tritle, and with Voices of Ascension, led by Dennis Keene. She was a member of the 2023 Virginia Best Adams Quartet at the Carmel Bach Festival and was awarded first prize in the 2021 Lyndon-Woodside Oratorio Competition held at Riverside Church in New York City. Emily has performed as a soloist with Masaaki Suzuki, Nicholas McGegan, Simon Carringon, David Hill, and Leon Botstein. She is an alumnus of the GRAMMY award-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus and holds her B.A. in Music from Bard College.