LaGuardia HS Students Win Met Opera Competition
by Constance Boykan
Laquita Mitchell, a 1994 LaGuardia graduate, who was introduced to opera while at LaGuardia HS, has won the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions recently. There were 1,500 entries. Eventually 20 regional winners were selected and then seven finalists. The seven performed with the Metropolitan Orchestra recently at the Met.
Laquita Mitchell, to our knowledge, is the only person in the history of our school to ever win the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. The list of past winners, some of whom (Samuel Ramey, Deborah Voigt, Thomas Hampson and Dolora Zajick, among them) sang in the second half of the sold-out concert, includes some of the legendary names in opera.
It should be noted that several alumni played in the orchestra including the Met's principal timpanist, Richard Horowitz, who is a member of our first graduating class and has been playing with the orchestra for 58 years!
Laquita is in her second year of the Houston Grand Opera's Studio program. Alumna, Catherine Malfitano, who was starring in Jenufa in Houston recently, worked with Laquita and noted her special talent.#
