The smiling gentleman is none other than the legendary Rockwell Blake and the woman is Guadalupe Paz, winner of the competition. Below she is pictured with the "fathers of the competition", Bruce Johansen and Michael Cressey. The first ever Rossini competition in the United States was held in California on November 13-14.

The competition was the brain-child of the president, Bruce Johansen, and artistic director, Mick Cressey of the Palm Springs Opera Guild of the Desert. Some may think this is an unlikely place for such a competition, but both Johansen and Cressey are big Rossini fans, as well as being frequent visitors to the Rossini Opera Festival (and members of the Friends of the Rossini Opera Festival).

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Source: http://www.rossiniamerica.org/