Artists of the Year

Each year Opera Guild of Northern Virginia names an Artist of the Year on behalf of Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia. The award is given in recognition of the personal dedication, professional achievement, and will to excel which transform talent into true artistic accomplishment.

2008 Award Recipient: Leslie Mutchler, Mezzo-Soprano

Ms. Mutchler made her Opera Theatre debut in April 2008 singing the role of Maurya in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea. In February 2009 she was part of the program O' Lover's Voice, a joint production of Opera Theatre and the Alexandria Symphony, in which she appeared as Concepcion in Ravel's L'heure espagnole (The Spanish Hour). Other roles she has sung include Hansel (Hansel und Gretel), the title role in Carmen, Lola (Cavalleria rusticana), and Zulma (L'italiana in Algeri). A graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera, she made her WNO debut in the role of Inez in Il trovatore.

Kathy Hankins Soprano	Lisa Archibeque Soprano	Kelly Smith Soprano	Robert L. Tudor Baritone	Katherine Osborne Soprano
2007	2006	2005	2004	2003

Additional recipients of the award:

Carmen Mason, Soprano, 2002
Catherine Justice, Soprano, 2001
Scott Priest, Tenor, 2000
Shannon Wise, Soprano, 1999
Victor Barrett, Tenor, 1998
Peter Joshua Burroughs, Tenor, 1997
Ellen Douglas Schlaefer, Director, 1996
Amy Van Roeckle, Soprano, 1995
Cheri Reiser, Soprano, 1994
David Faircloth, Tenor, 1993