The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (formerly the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions) is an annual singing competition sponsored by the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...
. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist, promote, and develop young
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
singers. The competition is held in four stages: Districts, Regional, Semi-Final, and Final competitions. Each stage is judged by a panel of representatives from the Metropolitan Opera. There are a total of 14 regional competitions within the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, and 42 district competitions within each region. Winners from the district competition compete in Regionals, and then the winners of regionals are awarded a trip to New York City where they compete on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in the National Semi-Final Competition. Approximately 10 semi-finalists are chosen to compete in the final competition; the five winners are awarded a grand prize of $15,000 each, and the remaining finalists receive $5,000.
Grace Bumbry
Grace Melzia Bumbry (born January 4, 1937), an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano earlier in her career. She is a member of a pioneering generation of African-Ameri ...
Ronald Holgate
Ronald Holgate (born May 26, 1937, Aberdeen, South Dakota) is an American actor and opera singer. He won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor as Richard Henry Lee in the original Broadway production of ''1776'', a role he reprised in 1972 for ...
Teresa Stratas
Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a retired operatic soprano from Canada of Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's '' Lulu''.
Early life and career
Stratas was born Anastasia Stratakis t ...
(1959)
1960s
*Mary Jennings (1960)
*
Mary MacKenzie
Mary Mackenzie (3 May 1922 – 20 September 1966) was an English actress. One of her earliest credited TV roles was in 1950 on BBC's ''Sunday Night Theatre'', as Miriam in an adaptation of H. G. Wells' ''The History of Mr Polly'', a role she r ...
(1960)
*
Spiro Malas
Spiro Samuel Malas (January 28, 1933 – June 23, 2019) was a Greek- American bass-baritone opera singer and actor.
The son of Greek immigrants Sam and Lillian Malas, he was born in Baltimore, MD January 28, 1933. The family owned Duffy's, a r ...
Benita Valente
Benita Valente (born October 19, 1934) is an American soprano whose career has encompassed the operatic stage as well as performance of lieder, chamber music and oratorio. She is especially lauded for her interpretations of Mozart and Handel, but ...
(1960)
*
Billie Lynn Daniel
Billie Lynn Daniel (1932–2002) was an American operatic soprano and composer. A winner of several notable vocal competitions, she was best known for her portrayal of Clara in ''Porgy and Bess'' and for her work as an exponent of American art ...
Francesca Roberto
Francesca Roberto is an American operatic soprano. A winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she sang leading roles throughout the United States during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Life and career
Raised in Greenwich, Connect ...
Shirley Verrett
Shirley Verrett (May 31, 1931 – November 5, 2010) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles, i.e. soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s, particularly we ...
Kay Griffel
Kay Griffel (born December 26, 1940, in Eldora, Iowa) is an American operatic spinto soprano.
Early life and education
After earning a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University, she pursued further studies with Lotte Lehmann at the Music Aca ...
(1962)
*
Janis Martin
Janis Darlene Martin (March 27, 1940 – September 3, 2007) was an American rockabilly and country music singer. She was one of the few women working in the male-dominated rock and roll music field during the 1950s and one of country music ...
(1962)
*
James McCray
James McCray was an American operatic tenor and voice teacher.
Life and career
Born in Ohio, McCray served in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War before entering the Mannes School of Music in New York City where he was a pup ...
(1962)
*
Carol Toscano
Carol Toscano is an American operatic soprano who appeared frequently with a number of prominent American opera companies from 1962 to 1972. Afterwards she continued to perform in concerts and operas with less frequency. More recently she has app ...
(1962)
*Veronica Tyler-Scott (1962)
* William Walker (1962)
*
Russell Christopher
Russell Christopher (12 March 1930 in Grand Rapids, Michigan – 9 November 2014) was an American operatic baritone who specialized in comprimario roles. He received his Bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Michigan, where ...
Mary Beth Peil
Mary Beth Peil (born June 25, 1940) is an American actress and soprano. She began her career as an opera singer in 1962 with the Goldovsky Opera Theater. In 1964 she won two major singing competitions, the Young Concert Artists International Au ...
Gwendolyn Killebrew
Gwendolyn Killebrew (August 26, 1941 – December 24, 2021) was an American operatic contralto and mezzo-soprano who worked in Germany and internationally, including the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. She performed in the 1971 wor ...
(1966)
*
Evelyn Mandac
Evelyn Mandac (born August 16, 1945 in Malaybalay) is a soprano opera singer, orchestra soloist, recitalist and voice teacher from the Philippines. She is based in New York City. She's also listed in "Who's Who in Music and Musicians."
A nati ...
Judith Forst
Judith Doris Forst (''née'' Lumb) (born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian mezzo-soprano.
Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, she received a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia in 1964. She is the sister-in-law of lon ...
Jessye Norman
Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...
(1968)
*
Nancy Shade
Nancy Shade (born May 31, 1946, in Rockford, Illinois) is an American spinto soprano, best known as a singing-actress. She made her formal debut as Leonora in ''Il trovatore'', in Louisville, in 1967. In 1971, she made her first of many appeara ...
Gilda Cruz-Romo
Gilda Cruz-Romo (née Gilda Cruz, born February 12, 1940) is a Mexican operatic soprano, particularly associated with dramatic roles
of the Italian repertory, notably ''Aida'' and '' Tosca''.
Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, she studied at the Mex ...
(1969)
*James Johnson (1969)
*Eugenie Chopin Watson (1969)
* Frederica von Stade (1969)
Christine Weidinger
Christine Weidinger (born March 31, 1946) is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international career in operas and concerts since the early 1970s. Her career started at the Metropolitan Opera, after which she was active as a residen ...
Carmen Balthrop
Carmen Arlene Balthrop (May 14, 1948 – September 5, 2021) was an American operatic soprano from Washington, D.C.
Career
She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Pamina in Mozart's ''Die Zauberflöte'' and performed on Broadway in the title r ...
(1975)
*John Carpenter (1976)
*
Ashley Putnam
Ashley Putnam (born 10 August 1952) is an American soprano from New York City. Her professional singing career began in 1976 and has spanned over 30 years.
Early life and career
Ashley Putnam began her music career playing the flute. Her mother ...
Natalia Rom
Natalia Rom, soprano, was born in Kazan, in the Soviet Union (also the city of Feodor Chaliapin's birth), on May 14, 1950, and graduated (as a conductor) from the Leningrad Conservatory. In late 1976, she emigrated to New Orleans, where she at ...
(1979)
*Susan St. John (1979)
*Michael Talley (1979)
*
Delores Ziegler
Delores Ziegler (born 4 September 1951) is an American mezzo-soprano who has had an active international performance career since the late 1970s. A former resident artist at the Cologne Opera, she has performed leading roles with many of the world ...
Gail Dubinbaum
Gail Dubinbaum (born 1957) is an American operatic coloratura mezzo-soprano and co-founder and Creative Director of the Phoenix Metropolitan Opera.
Career
A native of Long Island, New York, Dubinbaum first studied with her mother, Ruth Dubinbau ...
(1981)
*
Susan Dunn
Susan Dunn (born July 23, 1954) is a Grammy Award-winning American spinto soprano who has performed in many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, and concert performances. Dunn is particularly admire ...
Pamela Coburn
Pamela Coburn (born 29 March 1959) is an American operatic soprano. She has performed leading roles internationally, including regular performances at the Vienna State Opera, the Zurich Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Salzburg Festival ...
(1982)
*Carla Cook (1982)
*
Nancy Gustafson
Nancy Gustafson (born June 27, 1956, in Evanston, Illinois) is an American opera singer.
She received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1978 and her M.Mus. from Northwestern University. She has appeared in numerous productions at venues bo ...
Harolyn Blackwell
Harolyn Blackwell (born November 23, 1955) is an American lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, recitals, and Broadway musicals. Initially known f ...
Marcus Haddock
Marcus Haddock (born 19 June 1957) is an American opera singer and voice teacher who in the course of his 25-year stage career sang leading tenor roles throughout the United States and Europe. Born in Fort Worth, Texas and trained at the Boston Un ...
(1984)
*Theresa Hamm (1984)
*Cynthia Lawrence (1984)
*Emily Manhart (1984)
* Lisa Saffer (1984)
*Nova Thomas (1984)
*Jonathan Welch (1984)
*Stephen Biggers (1985)
*Maryte Bizinkauskas (1985)
*Philip Cokorinos (1985)
* Richard Cowan (1985)
*Julia Faulkner (1985)
*Anne Johnson (1985)
*
Victoria Livengood
Victoria Livengood (born August 8, 1959) is an American mezzo-soprano and voice teacher. She is most renown for her extensive and prestigious international operatic career spanning over 35 years and counting. Her past and current career sees her r ...
(1985)
*
Deborah Voigt
Deborah Voigt (born August 4, 1960) is an American dramatic soprano who has sung roles in operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Biography and career
Early life and education
Debbie Joy Voigt was born into a religious Southern Baptist family ...
Gordon Hawkins Gordon Hawkins may refer to:
* Gordon Hawkins (criminologist)
* Gordon Hawkins (singer)
{{hndis, Hawkins, Gordon ...
(1986)
*Barbara Kilduff (1986)
*Kim Marie Kodes (1986)
* Marilyn Mims (1986)
*
Stanford Olsen
Stanford Olsen (born 1960) is an American tenor who has had an active international career in operas and concerts since 1983. He has sung with several of the world's leading opera companies, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Scala and the ...
Renée Fleming
Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for ...
(1988)
*Haijing Fu (1988)
*
Susan Graham
Susan Graham (born July 23, 1960) is an American mezzo-soprano.
Life and career
Susan Graham was born in Roswell, New Mexico on July 23, 1960. Raised in Midland, Texas, Graham is a graduate of Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of ...
(1988)
*
Ben Heppner
Thomas Bernard Heppner (born January 14, 1956) is a Canadian tenor and broadcaster, now retired from singing, who specialized in opera and other classical works for voice.
Early life and career
Heppner, of Mennonite descent, was born in Mur ...
(1988)
*Wendy Hoffman (1988)
*Carolyn James (1988)
*Lynda Keith (1988)
* Heidi Grant Murphy (1988)
*LeRoy Villanueva (1988)
*
Christine Brewer
Christine Brewer (born October 26, 1955) is an American soprano opera singer.
Biography
Brewer grew up in the Mississippi River town of Grand Tower, Illinois. She attended McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois and concentrated on music educa ...
(1989)
*Dong-Jian Gong (1989)
*Dominique Labelle (1989)
*Ning Liang (1989)
* Mary Mills (1989)
*Mark Oswald (1989)
* Kevin Short (1989)
* Tichina Vaughn (1989)
*Rosa Vento (1989)
*
Verónica Villarroel
Verónica Villarroel González is a Chilean soprano. In 1989 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She studied singing with Ellen Faull at the Juilliard School.
Villarroel was born in Santiago, Chile to Gueraldo Villarroel a ...
(1989)
1990s
*Jeanne-Michelle Charbonnet (1990)
*Steven Combs (1990)
*Catherine Cook (1990)
*Adrienne Dugger (1990)
*Clare Mueller (1990)
* Susan Owen (1990)
*Phyllis Pancella (1990)
*Kitt Reuter-Foss (1990)
*Rebecca Russell (1990)
*Young-Ok Shin (1990)
* Roy Cornelius Smith (1990)
*
Brian Asawa
Brian Asawa (October 1, 1966 – April 18, 2016) was a Japanese American opera singer who sang as a countertenor. About Asawa, ''Opera News'' stated: "In his prime, Asawa was an electric performer, his fearless performing style supported by a voice ...
(1991)
*Demareus Cooper (1991)
*
Elizabeth Futral
Susan Elizabeth Futral (born September 27, 1963 in Johnston County, North Carolina) is an American coloratura soprano who has won acclaim (as both singer and actress) throughout the United States as well as in Europe, South America, and Japan.
E ...
(1991)
* Paul Groves (1991)
*Derrick Lawrence (1991)
*Hong-Shen Li (1991)
* Kenneth Tarver (1991)
*Yalun Zhang (1991)
*Youmi Cho (1992)
* Michelle DeYoung (1992)
*Yvonne Gonzales (1992)
*Clare Gormley (1992)
*Michaela Gurevich (1992)
*Marie Plette (1992)
*Christopher Schaldenbrand (1992)
* Tony Stevenson (1992)
*Seung Won Choi (1993)
*Margaret Lattimore (1993)
*Ray M. Wade (1993)
*Kathryn Krasovec (1993)
* Emily Ann Pulley (1993)
*
Ainhoa Arteta
Ainhoa Arteta Ibarrolaburu, better known as Ainhoa Arteta (born 24 September 1964 at Tolosa, Basque province of Gipuzkoa), is a Spanish soprano.
Personal life and training
Her father, José Ramón Arteta, was founder and director of the C ...
(1993)
*
Elizabeth Bishop
Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Awar ...
Stephanie Blythe
Stephanie Blythe (born 1970) is an American mezzo-soprano who has had an active international career in operas and concerts since the early 1990s. She is particularly associated with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, with whom she has perfo ...
(1994)
*Sheryl H. Cohen (1994)
*
Nathan Gunn
Nathan T. Gunn (born November 26, 1970, in South Bend, Indiana) is an American operatic baritone who performs regularly around the world. He is an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he is currently a professor of voi ...
(1994)
*Olga Makarina (1994)
*Mark Edward McCrory (1994)
*John J. Osborn (1994)
*Svetlana Serdar (1994)
*Daniel Sumegi (1994)
* Michael Chioldi (1995)
* Robert Crowe (1995)
*
Amelia Farrugia
Amelia Farrugia (often misspelled as "Ferrugia", born 28 July 1970) is an Australian soprano opera singer of Maltese descent. She won awards in the Sydney Eisteddfod and the 1996 Australian Singing Competition, and the 1995 Metropolitan Opera N ...
(1995)
*Anita Johnson (1995)
*Sujung Kim (1995)
*Aline Kutan (1995)
*Kelley Nassief (1995)
*
Sondra Radvanovsky
Sondra Dee Radvanovsky (born 11 April 1969) is an American-Canadian soprano. Specializing in 19th-century Italian opera, Radvanovsky has been called one of the leading Verdi sopranos of her generation. Her signature roles include Elvira in ''Erna ...
(1995)
*Gregory J. Turay, III (1995)
*Jon Villars (1995)
*Leah Creek (1996)
*Tamara Lynn Hummel (1996)
*Daniele LeBlanc (1996)
*Lester Lynch (1996)
*Elizabeth Norman (1996)
* Eric Owens (1996)
* Jami Rogers (1996)
* Jung-Hack Seo (1996)
*Lynette Tapia (1996)
* Isabel Bayrakdarian (1997)
*
Angela Brown
Angela M. Brown (born 1963) is an American dramatic soprano particularly admired for her portrayal of Verdi heroines.
Early life and education
Angela Brown was born in 1963 in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is African-American. Her mother, Freddie M ...
Meagan Miller
Meagan Miller is an American soprano with an active international career in opera, recital and concert.
Early life
Miller was born in Wilmington, Delaware and grew up in West Chester, Ohio and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
She attended high school ...
James Valenti
James Valenti (born September 2, 1977) is an American operatic tenor with an active international career specializing in leading roles in the Italian and French repertoire. Born and raised in New Jersey, in the United States, he attended St. Hel ...
Michael Maniaci
Michael Maniaci (born May 3, 1976) is an American opera singer. Possessing a male soprano voice, Maniaci is noted for his claim to be able to sing into the upper soprano range without resorting to falsetto, an otherwise common phonation for men ...
Lisette Oropesa
Lisette Oropesa (born September 29, 1983) is an American operatic soprano of Cuban ancestry. She has a wide repertoire that includes works from Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Wagner, Verdi, Bizet, Massenet and Puccini. With her lyric ...
(2005)
*
Susanna Phillips
Susanna Phillips (Huntington) is an American singer who has sung leading lyric soprano roles at leading American and international opera houses.
Early life and education
Phillips was born in Birmingham, Alabama and grew up in Huntsville where she ...
Jamie Barton Jamie Barton may refer to:
* Jamie Barton (singer) (born 1981), American mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contra ...
(2007)
*
Michael Fabiano
Michael Fabiano (born 8 May 1984) is an American operatic tenor. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he has performed in leading opera houses throughout the world, including the San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Sydney Opera, Teatr ...
(2007)
*
Angela Meade
Angela Meade (born 1977) is an American operatic soprano.
Life and career
Born in Centralia, Washington, Meade started her education at Centralia Community College before going on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from Pacific Luthera ...
(2007)
*Alek Shrader (2007)
*Ryan Smith (2007)
*Amber L. Wagner (2007)
*Erich René Barbera (2008)
*
Jennifer Johnson Cano
Jennifer Johnson Cano is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Before her college education, she attended St. Pius X High School (Festus, Missouri), graduating in the Class of 2002. While in high school, she was a member of the choir, singing at Ma ...
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Anthony Roth Costanzo is an American countertenor, actor, and producer who has led performances at opera companies around the world. Beginning his career in musical theatre at the age of 11, he has since been featured at the Metropolitan Opera, ...
(2009)
*Sung Eun Lee (2009)
*
Nadine Sierra
Nadine Sierra (born May 14, 1988) is an American soprano. She is most well known for her interpretation of Gilda in Verdi's ''Rigoletto,'' and Lucia in Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor.'' Currently performing in leading roles in the top opera hou ...
Elliot Madore
Elliot Madore (born April 15, 1987) is a Canadian lyric baritone with an international operatic career.
Early life and education
Madore graduated from the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and received both his Ma ...
Philippe Sly
Philippe Sly (born 1988 or 1989 in Ottawa) is a Canadian bass-baritone and opera, oratorio and recital singer.
Biography
Sly grew up in Ottawa, joined local boys and adult choirs and studied music at McGill University. In 2011 he was one of ...
Ao Li
Ao Li (; born 8 February 1988) is a Chinese operatic bass-baritone and voice teacher who is particularly known for his performances at the San Francisco Opera. In 2013 he won first prize in the Operalia, The World Opera Competition and in 2014 ...
Jakub Józef Orliński
Jakub Józef Orliński (; born 8 December 1990) is a Polish operatic countertenor singer and breakdancer. He has performed leading roles with many opera companies, including Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Warsaw Grand Thea ...
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen (born 1994) is an American countertenor. He was a winner of the 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals, after which he was described as "a complete artist" and "young star" in ''The New York Times''. He ...