2023 Scholarship Award Winners
Veena Akama-Makia, Mezzo-Soprano
2023 American Opera Society of Chicago Best Vocal Artist Award
Veena Akama-Makia is a Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist and a Professional Diploma Candidate at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She studies with Judith Haddon. She holds a Master of Music in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music. In 2023-2025, she will be a Jette Parke Artist at the Royal Opera House, after serving as an Apprentice Artist with the Des Moines Metro Opera this summer.
An Ensemble Member of the Ryan Opera Center of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ms. Reynolds holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music. She has been an Emerging Artist with Opera Philadelphia, a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and a member of the Young Artist Vocal Academy of the Houston Grand Opera. Her most recent award is the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation.
2023 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award in honor of Patrice Michaels
Lindsey Reynolds, Lyric Soprano
Hugh Davis, Baritone
Hugh Davis studies with Nathan Gunn at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in preparation for a Master of Music degree with a concentration in Vocal Performance and Literature. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance degree from Pacific Lutheran University. Mr. Davis was a Finalist in the 2022 Händel Aria Competition and has won awards from the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Seattle Opera Guild.
2023 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award in honor of James Earle Houston
2023 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award
Haddon Kay, Cello
Haddon Kay studies cello performance at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music with Hans Jensen. He earned his Bachelors degree from Northwestern and is currently pursuing his Masters degree. He has been principal cellist of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, and is a founding member of the Galvin Cello Quartet, which won Concert Artists Guild’s 2022 Victor Elmaleh Competition and the silver medal at the 2021 Fischoff Competition.
Alec Tonno, Violin
2023 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award
Alec Tonno studies with Janet Sung at DePaul University School of Music, completing his Master of Music Degree in Violin Performance. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Mason Gross School of the Arts. In both 2021 and 2022 he has won the DePaul Graduate School of Music Award, and has also won awards from the American Protégé International Piano and String Competition and the Wharton Music Center Young Artists Competition.