16th Annual Mildred Miller International Voice Competition

The Mildred Miller International Voice Competition returns to Kresge Hall at Carnegie Mellon University this weekend, marking its 16th year. It's run by the Pittsburgh Festival Opera, and the whole thing is built around the semi-finals and finals, both of which are open to the public. If you've never been, it's a chance to hear a group of singers compete for prizes, with the top place finishers taking home the awards.

The competition is billed as Pittsburgh's signature voice competition, and the Opera describes it as a way for audiences to experience the future of opera. That's a fair way to put it: the singers are early in their careers, and the competition is one of the stages they pass through on their way to professional houses. Because the semi-finals and finals are both open to the public, you can follow the field from the first round through to the winners.

There are two separate days to catch. The semi-finals run on Saturday, October 17, from 10 AM to 4 PM, so you can drop in for a few hours or stay for the whole morning and afternoon. The finals follow on Sunday, October 18, from 6 PM to 9 PM, when the remaining singers compete for the top prizes. Both take place at Kresge Hall, 5000 Forbes Ave in Oakland, on the Carnegie Mellon campus.

If you're a fan of opera or just like hearing voices push themselves, it's a good weekend to spend in Oakland. You can catch the semi-finals on Saturday, October 17, from 10 AM to 4 PM, and the finals on Sunday, October 18, from 6 PM to 9 PM, both at Kresge Hall.