What is it about Iowa natives winning prestigious singing competitions? Iowa City native Jessica Faselt has been crowned the winner of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions in New York City. The event and competition are meant to introduce and crown the rising opera stars of the world. That rising star is from Iowa.

The finals of the competition took place on April 29th. Critics call it the most prestigious competition in opera. Faselt sang her heart out on the same stage where legends like Pavarotti have performed. Four balconies and six levels of seating starred back at her, as well as nearly 4,000 people in the audience.

Faselt and four other singers were announced as the winners of the competition. It was a coming out party that announced her as a rising star in the world of opera. Faselt says it was a Cinderella story. She told the Iowa City Press-Citizen, "I was the girl from Iowa singing on the Met stage!" Now the whole world is her stage, and Iowa couldn't be prouder!

 

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