Finalist: Jason Hiester, Tenor

Jason Hiester, M.M., (Voice/Choral Conducting) University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music; B.M. (Performance) University of Miami in South Florida; also a teaching internship with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Mr. Hiester, a tenor, teaches voice, conducting, and directs the opera and choral programs at Ohio Wesleyan University. He performs professionally in a variety of genres including opera, oratorio, choral and jazz. His credits include roles with West Palm Beach Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Columbus Opera, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera and concert work with Miami Bach Society, Musica Sacra of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky Symphony, Columbus Bach Ensemble, Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati, Springfield Symphony, and Vocal Arts Ensemble of Springfield. He was a winner of both the Schloss Leopoldskron competition in Salzburg, Austria and the West Palm Beach Opera Competition. Mr. Hiester has also directed an international summer program for vocalists and pianists of OWU in Salzburg, Austria, a program made possible by an OWU Theory-to-Practice grant.