Kohl aims for the finals in the Met's March Madness

Joshua Kohl
After winning the Metropolitan Opera regional auditions last month in St. Paul, Joshua Kohl travels to New York City for the National Semi-Finals this weekend.
MPR Photo/Karl Gehrke

Minnesota Opera resident artist Joshua Kohl is in New York this weekend competing in Sunday's Metropolitan Opera National Semi-Finals. The young tenor won the district auditions in St. Paul last month.

Kohl is a Pennsylvania native who's in his first season with the Minnesota Opera. In February he sang the role of Al Joad in the world premiere of "The Grapes of Wrath."

After hearing Kohl and the other semi-finalists on Sunday, judges will select approximately ten Met national finalists. Those singers will perform in the grand finals on April 1.

Before leaving for New York City, Joshua Kohl stopped by Minnesota Public Radio's Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio to sing and talk with host John Birge about the competition.