Bass Mel Whitehead of Anaheim won first...

Bass Mel Whitehead of Anaheim won first prize Saturday at the local arm of the Bel Canto Foundation annual opera competition held at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Whitehead, 30, will join other regional winners from around the country for the Bel Canto Opera seminar at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., June 28 through Aug. 8. Whitehead won from a field of three finalists whittled down from a list of seven semifinalists.

Greg Miller, a graphic design instructor at the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach, won a gold medal in design at the Orange County Ad Awards. Two alumni of the Art Institute--Ann Bowen and Catherine Cooper--also received gold medals at the event, held last month.