Chan Wei En - winner 2014

Chan Wei En is a Countertenor in his junior year at Ithaca College. He studies with Carol McAmis, who is currently on sabbatical, and Caitlin Mathes, her sabbatical replacement. Wei En is from Singapore and particularly enjoys singing Baroque songs and art songs from the 20th century.

Catherine Siniscalco - winner 2013

Catherine Siniscalco started taking private voice lessons as a freshman in high school at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance in Rocherster, NY, with Dr. Sandra Boysen. She also took voice class for four years in high school with Diane Abrahamian. She was involved in many school and community musical and play productions including Beauty and the Beast, Rent, Evita, Send Me No Flowers, and Little Shop of Horrors. As a sophomore she was cast as a chorus member in Mercury Opera Company in Rochester, NY. She was a chorus member in La Boheme, Tosca, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and La Traviata.

At Syracuse University her voice teacher is Janet Brown and her vocal coach is Kathleen Haddock. At her home in Rochester, she has regularly taken voice lessons with Katherine Ciesinski at the Eastman School of Music. She has participated in a number of operas at Syracuse University including La Canterina, The Magic Flute, The Gondoliers, and Too Many Sopranos. She also traveled to Oswego, NY to participate as a chorus member in a production of Cosi fan tutte. Catherine was also cast as a chorus member in Syracuse Opera's productions of The Pearl Fishers and Carmina Burana.

As a sophomore she was initiated into Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity and appointed Editor. In the summer of 2012, she studied abroad in London, taking a theatre critic course. That summer, she also participated in a program called “Opera Viva!” Located in Verona, Italy, the program gave her the amazing opportunity to have a masterclass and private voice lesson with June Anderson. In summer 2013, she participated in Manhattan School of Music's Summer Voice Festival and studied with voice teacher Ashley Putnam. She also traveled to Florence, Italy to participate in The Bel Canto Institute where she studied with voice teacher Margaret Lattimore and vocal coaches Roger Malouf and Robert Morrison. She plans to go to graduate school to continue her studies for a master’s degree in Vocal Performance.