Canadian soprano Betty Allison, one of the 13 finalists.Thirteen young singers in two divisions have been named finalists in the 41st annual Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition. The singers will perform Sunday afternoon in the Grand Finals concert at the Kravis Center.
The competition began this week with 47 semi-finalists selected from an initial field of 259. The finalists will be vying for a total of $78,000 in donated prize money, and will sing with the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, led by guest conductor J. David Jackson, a staff conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
The seven finalists in the advanced division (ages 24-30), chosen from 28 contestants, are: soprano Betty Allison, 28, from Ladysmith, B.C., Canada; soprano Rena Harms, 25, of Santa Fe, N.M.; soprano Zulimar López-Hernández, 30, of San Juan, Puerto Rico; tenor Edward Mout, 30, of San Diego, Calif.; mezzo-soprano Irene Roberts, 27, of Sacramento, Calif.; baritone R. Kenneth Stavert, 25, of Fullerton, Calif.; and soprano Corinne Winters, 27, of Frederick, Md.
The six finalists in the junior division (ages 18-23), chosen from 19 contestants, are: bass Matthew Anchel, 22, of New York City; tenor Martin Bakari, 23, of Yellow Springs, Ohio; mezzo-soprano Sasha Hashemipour, 21, of San Diego, Calif.; baritone Joseph Lattanzi, 22, of Mableton, Ga.; soprano Rebecca Nathanson, 22, of New Haven, Conn.; and baritone Michael Young, 23, of Cortland, Ohio.
Judges for the competition this year are Richard Gaddes, former general director of the Santa Fe Opera and founder of Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Susana Meyer, artistic consultant to the American Symphony Orchestra; and Leonore Rosenberg, associate artistic administrator of the Metropolitan Opera. Tickets for Sunday’s concert begin at $20 and are available by calling 833-7888 or visiting www.pbopera.org.
Barry U. sells WXEL radio to Classical South Florida
WXEL-FM (90.7) of Boynton Beach, a public radio station that features classical music and National Public Radio programming, was sold earlier this week for $3.85 million to Classical South Florida, the Fort Lauderdale-based station owned by American Public Media Group.
The sale was approved by the board of trustees of Barry University, the private Catholic university in Miami Shores that has owned WXEL radio and TV since 1997. Barry 
Telecommunications Inc. will continue to hold the WXEL-TV license, the school said.
“We are pleased to welcome Classical South Florida as the new steward of WXEL-FM,” Sister Linda Bevilacqua, president of Barry University, said in a news release. “In terms of radio service to the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast communities, Classical South Florida brings local control and local content to the WXEL audience, with the backing of an outstanding organization, American Public Media.”
St. Paul, Minn.-based American Public Media Group began broadcast operations at Classical South Florida –at WKCP (89.7 FM) – in October 2007, after buying the station, then a Christian-programming outlet called WMCU, from Trinity University of San Antonio, Texas.
After the sale of WXEL has been approved by state and federal regulators, the radio station’s call letters will be changed to avoid confusion with the TV station, Classical South Florida said in a release. The new call letters have not yet been chosen.
“Under our stewardship, the station will continue to serve Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast,” said Doug Evans, general manager of Classical South Florida, in a press statement. “The combination will all
ow CSF to extend the reach and enhance the quality of public radio programming throughout South Florida.”
Classical South Florida said in its news release that it plans to strengthen WXEL’s classical music programming while retaining its NPR news and public affairs content. American Public Media’s programs include A Prairie Home Companion, Performance Today, SymphonyCast, Saint Paul Sunday and Pipe Dreams.
In addition to broadcasting at WKCP, Classical South Florida’s programs can also be heard via low-power repeater at 101.9 FM in West Palm Beach.
— Compiled by Skip Sheffield and Greg Stepanich