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 takes 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, is part of a select group of young singers who are vying for the honor.
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 takes place March 15 in New York.
“It was absolutely unbelievable,” Cambidge says of the experience. “It was the third time that I’ve done it, and I felt the most prepared this time for sure. It was nice being on home turf at DU.”
Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C., Cambidge came to the University of Denver 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 teaches voice lessons and master classes as the school’s guest artist in residence.
The guest artist position also requires her to stage a recital at the school each semester, and she performs with various arts organizations in Denver, “but it would be really nice to get back into fully staged operas,” she says. “I haven’t done that since college.”
She can think of no better way to get back into the opera groove than as a featured performer at the Met auditions. She’ll be up against 15 other singers at the semifinals on March 15, and even fewer if she makes it to the final round on March 22. The ultimate prize is a role in the Grand Finals Concert, which is broadcast nationwide on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Network.
“Performing is what I love to do, so it’s really neat to have a chance to perform, even if it’s just performing for the competition and having fun with it,” Cambidge says. “But ultimately it would be great if I won. That’s what I’m going for.”
And if she doesn’t end up at the Met, she says, she’s still grateful for the life in music that her Lamont education helped make possible.
“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.”