The winners have been announced for the 2020-21 Vocal Studies Competition at the Peabody Conservatory. Under remote learning guidelines, contestants submitted video recordings of their performances for the competition. Winners were selected in both undergraduate and graduate divisions, and for the first time this year, each division awarded a special prize to a student who presented an outstanding performance featuring an art song by an African American composer.
In the undergraduate division, the first prize was awarded to soprano Simone Gallion, who also won the African American composer honor for her performance of “In the Springtime” by Betty Jackson King. Undergraduate second and third prizes went to tenor Kaijeh Johnson and mezzo-soprano Alexandria Zallo.
Bass-baritone Anthony Sharp was the winner of the graduate division, presenting works by Francesco Paolo Tosti, Franz Schubert, Gabriel Fauré, and Aaron Copland. Mezzo-soprano Bailey Galindo took second prize. Both the third prize and the African American composer honor were awarded to soprano Annisse Murillo.
