Sarah Cambidge was the sole singer from the Rocky Mountain region to move on to the semifinal round of the the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, which took place March 15 in New York. Photo courtesy of Sarah Cambidge
For an aspiring opera singer, it’s the ultimate showcase: a chance to sing on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and get noticed by the industry’s best. Sarah Cambidge, a graduate of the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, was part of a select group of young singers vying for the honor earlier this year.
Cambidge made it to the semifinals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. She auditioned for the program Feb. 7 at DU’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts and was the sole singer from the Rocky Mountain region to move on to the semifinal round, which took place March 15 in New York.
“It was amazing, absolutely amazing,” Cambidge says of her trip to New York. “They provided us with master classes and workshops where we could talk to industry professionals and get some more ideas of where our careers are going to be headed. We got an hour of coaching with our accompanist, and mine was just fantastic. I learned so much in one hour I couldn’t believe it.”
Though she didn’t advance to the finals, Cambidge still counts the experience as one of the highlights of her professional life. It was an honor, she says, to be one of only 17 finalists from the pool of more than 1,500 who auditioned across the country.
Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C., Cambidge came to DU after receiving a scholarship to study voice. A 2011 bachelor of music was followed by a master’s degree in 2013; that was followed by a job offer from the Denver School of the Arts, where Cambidge gives voice lessons and teaches master classes as the school’s guest artist in residence.
“No matter what, I’m at least in music: I’m teaching, I’m singing, I’m performing,” she says. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m living my dream.”