Domingo's domain

Not yet at the Peake of his career, Houston Grand Opera Studio singer wows at LaScala

Nathaniel Peake
Ryan McKinney
Photo by Jared Slater

It's been quite a spring for Nathaniel Peake. The 28-year-old Humble tenor has sung on the stage of La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York — garnering honors in both competitions.

Peake, a first-year student at the Houston Grand Opera Studio, recently returned from Milan, where he was one of 40 to take part in Placido Domingo's Operalia competition for singers between the ages of 18 and 30. He and HGO Studio almumnus Ryan McKinney made it to the final 13 and were the only Americans to take home a prize.

Peake shared the Zarzuela prize with Italian soprano Rose Feola in a section of the competition devoted to the Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes. McKinney, a bass-baritone, took home the first-ever Birgit Nilsson prize for German operatic repertoire. He sang"Die Frist ist um" from Der Fliegende Holländer.

Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva and Romanian tenor Stefan Pop took the top prizes in the competition, but Domingo told the audience that everyone went home a winner.

"I already told (the singers), win or lose, you get to go home and say you sang at La Scala," Domingo said, according to the Associated Press.

In March, Peake was among five winners in the prestigious 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in New York.

Both competitions are prime launching grounds for talented young opera singers. Past Operalia winners have included Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska, tenor José Cura from Argentina and bass Erwin Schrott from Uruguay.

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spooky szn

Spooky new study ranks Texas near the top of Halloween-obsessed states

Pumpkin Nights/Facebook

Let's get spooky, Houston.

Is Halloween the new Christmas? Sure seems like it in Texas, which just earned top-5 status in a new study of the U.S. states that are the most into the Halloween spirit.

When it comes to doing up the spookiest holiday of the year, the Lone Star State comes in as the third-most Halloween-obsessed state in America.

The report by outdoor furniture retailer Backyard Oasis ranked all 50 states based on an analysis of search results for Halloween costumes, decor, candy, haunted houses, upcoming Halloween events, and more. State populations were also factored into the rankings to ensure the scores were "accurately comparable."

Texas ranked No. 3 with a composite score of 48.16 points, beat only by California who ruled the list at No. 1, and New York which came in at No. 2, earning gilded costume crowns as the top two most Halloween-enthusiastic states.

According to the study's data, Texas is home to 47 haunted houses. The state has more than 75 Spirit Halloween stores in 2024, including nearly 30 in Dallas-Fort Worth, a dozen here in Houston, half a dozen in Austin, and four in San Antonio.

Overall, there are approximately 3,000 Halloween-related events happening all around the state in October, including candlelit performances of favorite songs by a string quartet.

Many trick-or-treaters dream of getting full size candy bars for Halloween, but in a surprising twist, the study found that the most popular Halloween candy in Texas is actually Sour Patch Kids. The sour-then-sweet candy is also highly popular in New York and Illinois, the report says.

Here's how Backyard Oasis broke down the rest of Texas' score:

9,314,440 – Halloween costume searches in October 2023
1,168,320 – Halloween decoration searches
445,670 – Halloween candy searches

Backyard Oasis CEO Andy Wu said in the report that the spirit of Halloween isn't just about giving out candy or dressing up in fun costumes, it's about sharing in a "tradition that sparks creativity and joy across the U.S."

"Halloween is one of the most exciting times of the year, bringing people together through creativity and celebration," said Wu. "It's amazing to see how different states embrace the holiday in their own unique ways, from massive costume searches to thrilling haunted houses."

The top 10 most Halloween-obsessed states are:

No. 1 – California
No. 2 – New York
No. 3 – Texas
No. 4 – Florida
No. 5 – Illinois
No. 6 – Ohio
No. 7 – Pennsylvania
No. 8 – Indiana
No. 9 – Michigan
No. 10 – Massachusetts

The least spooky state in the U.S. is Wyoming, which came in at No. 50, joined by nearby states Montana and South Dakota. New Mexico (No. 46) and Vermont (No. 47) were the other two states on the list's bottom five. The full report can be found on backyardoas.com.

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