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 Efraín Solís (’11), baritone, won the Western Region Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions that were held on Sunday, November 4, 2012 at The Colburn School in Los Angeles.  Efraín took first place, winning a trip to New York to participate in the National Semi-Finals, a competition held on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in March 2013.  Approximately ten of the Semi-Finalists are selected as National Finalists and compete the following Sunday in a public concert, the Grand Finals Concert, accompanied by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The jury awards approximately five Grand Winner awards of $15,000 each. The concert is broadcast nationwide on the Metropolitan Opera Radio Network. The remaining National Finalists receive $5,000 each, and those singers who were National Semi-Finalists but did not advance to the National Finals will be given $1,500 to further their studies.

A native of Orange County, California, Efraín has performed a variety of roles including the title role in
Eugene Onegin
with Russian Opera Workshop in Philadelphia, Guglielmo in Mozart’s
Così fan tutte
, and Figaro in Mozart’s
Le Nozze di Figaro
with Operafestival di Roma in Italy. At the San Francisco Conservatory of Music he has performed the title role in
Don Giovanni
and Guglielmo in 
Così fan tutte
, under the baton of Giuseppe Finzi. In the spring of 2012 he took 1st place in the East Bay Opera League Scholarship Competition and 2nd place in the Berkeley Piano Club’s Dorothy Van Waynen Vocal Competition. This season Efraín will be singing the title role in
Gianni Schicchi
at the San Francisco Conservatory, as well as Il Conte Almaviva in
Le nozze di Figaro
. In the Spring of 2013, he will be joining Opera Santa Barbara as a Studio Artist and covering Dr. Malatesta in
Don Pasquale
.  Currently Efraín is a candidate for the Masters of Music degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of César Ulloa.