GRANT TO ORANGE SINGER

Celeste Tavera, a resident of Orange, was one of 11 singers to win the National Metropolitan Opera Auditions Sunday in New York.

Tavera, 28, will receive a $5,000 education grant and will join the other winners for a March 29 performance with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, conducted by Richard Woitach. Repertory for the concert, to be broadcast on KUSC-FM on April 3 at 7 p.m., has not been set.

Winners of the competition are no longer offered contracts to perform with the Metropolitan Opera, a custom that was stopped in 1976. The money comes in the form of a grant that must be applied to the singer’s education, said Anne Porter, publicity director for the Metropolitan Opera National Council, a volunteer support organization of the Metropolitan that runs the auditions. “She can come back at a later date and audition for more money to help her education,” Porter said.

Tavera, who has sung with various local organizations, was among 21 singers to compete in the Metropolitan National Finals. Those 21 young performers were the survivors of local district and regional contests sponsored by the council.