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ENMU Grad Receives Opera Award
By Jean Ornellas
ENMU graduate Guo Ying was recently awarded the “Joan Sutherland Award for Extraordinary Potential in Opera” at the 2010 International Bellini Vocal Competition in Italy.
Soprano Guo Ying was personally selected for the award by Joan Sutherland’s widower, famous Australian conductor and pianist Richard Bonynge, who served as one of the 12 judges for the competition. This accomplishment is particularly noteworthy, as the Joan Sutherland Award had not been won for the past five years. Guo Ying qualified for the prestigious Bellini competition in July 2010 by winning first place in the preliminary competition in China. Performing in the finals in December, she was one of only two non-professional singers, competing against approximately 70 other singers.
Guo Ying, known to her fellow students at ENMU as Vivian, is from Northern China. She studied in China before coming to ENMU, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. She studied voice with Dr. Jean Wozencraft-Ornellas, and worked with vocal coach/ accompanist Mrs. Kayla Paulk.
She was seen in the leading role of the Mother in “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” She is currently a graduate student at New Mexico State University, where she performed the leading role of the Countess in Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” last March.
