Seagle Music Colony General Director Tony Kostecki is a busy man. While the official start to the Seagle’s 96^th season is still weeks away, Tony’s winter and spring has been spent ensuring that the new vocal students, faculty and audiences will have one of their best years ever.

“We are looking forward to a great year,” Tony told Schroon Laker today. “We sold out our opening performance (Old Friends & New) earlier this year compared to last year, so hopefully that’s a good sign”.

The 32 students selected for this year’s season came from more than 350 applicants. Tony travelled to New York, Boston, Kansas City, Missouri, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Fort Worth, Texas for auditions.

“We saw about 250 students at the live auditions. We received another 100 submissions on recorded media. Our group of 32 comprises of 16 males and females”.

How does Tony rate the class of 2012? “We are lucky our reputation is as strong as it is and as a result we attract the cream of the crop. We are very selective so we like to think that this year’s students will be as good as previous years, or better”.

Before heading out to the auditions, the summer’s plays and operas had already been selected. Tony said some of those auditioning sang selections from some of the plays and operas.

“We encourage them to sing what they sing best,” Tony said. “This year’s students include some who are Broadway focused and some who are opera focused”.

Tony says there is a process of what goes into selecting a student. “It’s a bit of a matrix as to how we select the students. We know what the roles are for the performances and cast with an eye to seeing who might be a good fit.

“But there is a dual role here. Primarily, the Seagle Colony is a training ground for young artists. Second, come the performances.”

Right now Tony has relocated from his downtown office on Main Street in Schroon to the Colony campus on Charley Hill Road. When we spoke workers were cleaning the grounds and buildings in anticipation for the arriving students. This year the campus is undergoing a few “minor repairs” with roofs being replaced on some of the student housing.

In season the Colony will have 25 full times staff positions, from voice teachers, to stage directors, costumers, to a cleaner and cook.

This summer Tony will celebrate his 17^th year with Seagle. He joined as a junior vocal coach and up until 2008, commuted each summer between Fort Worth, Texas, to Schroon.

“I love it here, but there are some things I miss about Fort Worth”.

Tickets for this year’s shows are now on sale by phone or ordering online. To purchase by phone, call the box office at 518-532-7875, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm eastern time.

You can learn more about the full season line up, here.