History

The first Handel Aria Competition was held on Monday, July 8, 2013 in Mills Hall of the Humanities Building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus as part of the Madison Early Music Festival. The event featured two arias by each of the 8 finalists selected in a national search that attracted almost 50 singers.  The prize winners were Elisa Sutherland, first prize, Alison Wahl, second prize,  and Winnie Nieh, third prize and audience favorite.

The second annual Handel Aria Competition was held on Thursday, July 17, 2014 at Music Hall on the UW-Madison campus as part of the Madison Early Music Festival.  The event featured two arias by each of the 7 finalists selected from a national search that included more than 60 singers. First prize was awarded to soprano Chelsea Morris, who also  was selected Audience Favorite.  Second prize went to Daniel Moody, countertenor, and the third prize winner was Yukie Sato, soprano.

The third annual Handel Arial Competition was July 17, 2015 in Mills Hall.  Soprano Sarah Brailey won first prize, second prize was awarded to countertenor Andrew Rader, and  mezzo-soprano Margaret Fox won both the third prize and “audience favorite.