Nathaniel Peake,tenor, was one of the five winners in the most prestigious voice competition in North America, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  From the nearly 1500 nationwide participants, Nathaniel was one of only two men to make it to the finals.  Winning the Met National Council Auditions means much more than the $15,000 in prize money.  Winners are immediately recognized by company managers and artist representatives, and  catapulted to the next stage of their promising careers.  Each year the Met conducts district and regional auditions nationally in search of new talent. 

In 2007, during Opera North's 25th Anniversary Season, Nathaniel Peake sang the role of Bardolph in Verdi's Falstaff.  Additionally, he was featured in ON's Young Artist Showcase singing "Salut! demeure chaste et pure" from Gounod's Faust. Since then, Nathaniel has gone on to become a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program.  At Syracuse Grand Opera he sang Tybalt in Gounod's Romeo and Juliette.  He will be a member of the Filene Young Artists Program at the Wolf Trap Opera this summer.

Tae Suk Suh as Pistol and Nathaniel James Peake as Bardolph in ON's 2007 production of Verdi's Falstaff. Photo Credit: Carl Brandon

Opera North has been awarded a $10,000 grant in support of Opera North Assistant Conductor Christopher Allen by The Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation. Opera North will receive $7500.00 and Christopher Allen will be awarded a career development grant of $2500.00 directly. Opera North is one of only three organizations to receive this award in the eighth and final year of the Bruno Walter Assistant Conductor Chair program.

The other two award recipients of The Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation’s Assistant Conductor Chair grant are: The Baltimore Symphony for the Assistant Conductor Chair for Ilyich Rivas and the San Francisco Symphony for the Assistant Conductor Chair for Donato Cabrera.

Prominent and prestigious symphonies and opera companies around the country vie for The Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation grant every year. The endorsement by the Foundation of Opera North’s programming at a time when small opera companies are closing their doors across the country is a tremendous validation of the achievements of Opera North and Christopher Allen. The fact that this is the final year of the grant makes this triumph even more notable.

The Bruno Walter Assistant Conductor Chair program is designed to nurture the careers of emerging conductors by encouraging mentoring and learning opportunities for assistant conductors. This award is a testament to Opera North’s musical strength, its nationally renowned young artist program, and the artistic leadership of Louis Burkot. The grant provides Opera North with the opportunity to further the career of a talented young conductor. Upon learning that Opera North and Christopher Allen had been awarded the grant, Maestro Burkot stated: “Chris Allen's impeccable musical qualities are only matched by the warmth and integrity of his personality. His work with Opera North last summer demonstrated the makings of a strong and charismatic musical leader.”

“The Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation’s grant to Opera North is both an endorsement of the mentoring program developed by Maestro Louis Burkot” stated Bruno Walter trustee Martin I. Kagan, “and the conducting potential exhibited by Christopher Allen. We are proud to support both individuals and the future of Opera North.”

Christopher Allen

Christopher Allen, conductor/pianist, was a Young Artist and member of Opera North’s vocal coaching staff during the 2009 season. He concentrated his coaching on the production of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Mr. Allen demonstrated his remarkable talent, dedication, and abilities throughout his tenure with the organization. The Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation grant will lead to his Opera North professional debut as an assistant conductor during the summer of 2010.

At the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, from which he will attain his Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting in 2010, Mr. Allen has assisted with productions of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Verdi’s Falstaff, Poulenc’s Les Mamelle de Tiresias, Mozart’s Idomeneo. In addition, he will conduct three performances of Strauss's Die Fledermaus in May 2010. He is an assistant conductor to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s Philharmonia and Concert Orchestras.

Born in Belle Harbor, New York, Mr. Allen grew up and attended school in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. However, the proximity to New York City, as well as his parents’ commitment to attending the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic, led to Mr. Allen’s immersion in the musical world and an infatuation with “sound” that resulted in his early piano studies and later pursuit of excellence in conducting.

Mr. Allen has received numerous awards and won many competitions. He was the first prizewinner of the 2007 Bradshaw and Buono International Competition, which led to his Carnegie Hall debut. His performances have led him to venues such as Carnegie’s Wiell Recital Hall, The Kennedy Center, Yamaha Artist Services, Tenri Cultural Institute, Piano Pedagogy Conference in Las Vegas, and the Juilliard School.

Mr. Allen holds a Bachelor’s of Music in Piano Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

The Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation

Established in 1963 by the estate of the world-famous conductor, Bruno Walter, The Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation undertakes projects that assist the career development of orchestral conductors. In 2003, the Foundation launched a new program of grants in support of the assistant conductor position to support emerging conductors in their career development by encouraging opera companies and orchestras to provide mentoring and hands-on learning opportunities. In addition, these grants remind musicians and the general public of the invaluable contribution that Maestro Walter made during his lifetime to opera, symphonic music, and the training of young conductors. The 2010 grants mark the end of this eight-year program.

Over the past forty-six years, the Foundation also has established a scholarship for conducting students a the Juilliard School in New York, provided cash awards to winners in the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, and helped numerous arts-related institutions with operating support, including New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the New York Philharmonic.

Bruno Walter (1876-1962) was one of the twentieth century’s greatest conductors, skilled at conducting both opera and symphonic orchestras. He also was a gifted pianist, as well as a recording artist and author.

Mr. Walter conducted the NBC orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. In 1947, at the age of 70, Maestro Walter was appointed acting music director of the New York Philharmonic. Despite his age and a demanding schedule of guest conducting appearances with many of the world’s prominent orchestras in North America and Europe, Maestro Walter remained at the Philharmonic through the 1948-49 season, and continued as a frequent guest conductor with that orchestra for eleven more years, until he was 83 years old.