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 is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist, promote, and develop young

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

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.

National winners

1950s

*Ethel Wagner DeLong (1954) *Charlotte Reincke (1955) *William Black (1956) *Dorothy Cole Posch (1956) * Robert Nagy (1956) * Robert Mosley (1957) *

Joan Wall Joan Boyd Wall (born in Baton Rouge) is a retired American operatic mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and author on the art of singing. In 1957 she was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She was a principal performer at ...

(1957) * Felicia Weathers (1957) *

Grace Bumbry Grace Melzia Bumbry (January 4, 1937 – May 7, 2023) was an American opera singer, considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, who also ventured to soprano roles. She belonged to a pioneering generation of African-American c ...

(1958) *Barbara Faulkner (1958) * Lucille Kailer (1958) *Barbara Leichsenring (1958) *Jefferson Morris (1958) *

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 ...

(1959) *

Norman Mittelmann Norman Mittelmann (25 May 1932 – 17 March 2019) was a Canadian opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a " ...

(1959) * Roald Reitan (1959) *Ann Scott (1959) *

Teresa Stratas Teresa Stratas (born May 26, 1938) is a Canadian operatic soprano and actress of Greeks, Greek descent. She is especially well known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's ''Lulu (opera), Lulu''. She is formally retired. Early life an ...

(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 ...

(1960) *Lavergne Monette (1960) * Polyna Savridi (1960) *

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 (May 21, 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 Americ ...

(1961) * Maria de Francesca-Cavazza (1961) * Edna Garabedian (1961) * Francesca Roberto (1961) *

George Shirley George Irving Shirley (born April 18, 1934) is an American operatic tenor, and was the first African-American tenor to perform a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Early life Shirley was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and r ...

(1961) *

Shirley Verrett Shirley Verrett (May 31, 1931 – November 5, 2010) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles making her a Soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s; she was ...

(1961) * Elizabeth Fischer (1962) *June Genovese (1962) *

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 (died January 2018) 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 wher ...

(1962) *

Carol Toscano Carol Toscano (born August 12, 1936) 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 ...

(1962) *Veronica Tyler-Scott (1962) *

William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Bap ...

(1962) *

Russell Christopher Russell Christopher (March 12, 1930 – November 9, 2014) was an American operatic baritone who specialized in comprimario roles. Life and career Christopher was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 12, 1930. He received his Bachelor's and Ma ...

(1963) *

Justino Díaz Justino Díaz (born January 29, 1940) is a Puerto Rican operatic bass-baritone. In 1963, Díaz won an annual contest held at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, becoming the first Puerto Rican to obtain such an honor and as a consequence, made ...

(1963) * Junetta Jones (1963) * Michael Trimble (1963) *

Gene Boucher Gene Boucher (December 6, 1933 – January 31, 1994) was an American operatic baritone. His career was chiefly associated with the Metropolitan Opera where he performed annually from 1965 until 1984 in more than 1000 performances in mainly compr ...

(1964) *Maria Candida (1964) * Robert Goodloe (1964) *Katherine Kaufman (1964) *

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 Internation ...

(1964) *

Huguette Tourangeau Huguette Tourangeau, (August 12, 1938 – April 21, 2018) was a French-Canadian operatic mezzo-soprano, particularly associated with the French and Italian repertories. Life and career Huguette Tourangeau was born in Montreal, Quebec, and gradu ...

(1964) *

Loretta Di Franco Loretta Di Franco (October 28, 1942 – December 30, 2024) was an American operatic soprano. She was known for her more than 900 performances at the Metropolitan Opera from 1961 to 1995. Biography Di Franco was born in New York City on October ...

(1965) *Gretchen D'Armand (1965) *Theodore Lambrinos (1965) *Claudia Lindsey (1965) *Maria Pellegrini, Maria Pellegrini Macko (1965) *Will Roy (1965) *Richard Stilwell (bass-baritone), Richard Stilwell (1965) *Karan Armstrong (1966) *Dominic Cossa (1966) *Conrad Immel (1966) *Gwendolyn Killebrew (1966) *Evelyn Mandac (1966) *Marylyn Mulvey (1966) *Gail Robinson (soprano), Gail Robinson (1966) *Annie Walker (1966) *Costanza Cuccaro (1967) *Sakiko Kanamori (1967) *Paula Page (1967) *Jacquelyn Benson (1968) *William Cochran (tenor), William Cochran (1968) *Patricia Craig (soprano), Patricia Craig (1968) *Judith Forst (1968) *Glenys Fowles (1968) *Gwendolyn Jones (1968) *Jessye Norman (1968) *Nancy Shade (1968) *Ruth Welting (1968) *Loretta Ziskin (1968) *Elaine Cormany (1969) *Gilda Cruz-Romo (1969) *James Johnson (1969) *Eugenie Chopin Watson (1969) *Frederica von Stade (1969)

1970s

*Jeannine Altmeyer (1970) *Barbara Pearson (1971) *Christine Weidinger (1972) *Douglas Ahlstedt (1973) *Alma Jean Smith (1974) *Carmen Balthrop (1975) *John Carpenter (1976) *Ashley Putnam (1976) *Vinson Cole (1977) *Wendy White (mezzo-soprano), Wendy White (1978) *Winifred Faix Brown (1978) *Jane Bunnell (1979) *Pamela Hicks (1979) *Dianne Iauco (1979) *Sandra McClain (1979) *Robert McFarland (1979) *Jan Opalach (1979) *Robert Wood Overman (1979) *Natalia Rom (1979) *Susan St. John (1979) *Michael Talley (1979) *Delores Ziegler (1979)

1980s

*Marjo Carroll (1980) *Louise Deal-Pluymen (1980) *John Fowler (1980) *Kevin Langan (1980) *Darren Nimnicht (1980) *Lani Norskog (1980) *Robin Reed (1980) *Leslie Richards (1980) *Margaret Vazquez (1980) *Lauren Wagner (1980) *Thomas Woodman (1980) *Laurence Albert (1981) *Lawrence Bakst (1981) *Rebecca Cook (1981) *Gail Dobish (1981) *Gail Dubinbaum (1981) *Susan Dunn (1981) *Joyce Guyer (1981) *Thomas Hampson (1981) *Diane Kesling (1981) *Laura Brooks Rice (1981) *Valerie Yova (1981) *Lucille Beer (1982) *Angela Maria Blasi (1982) *Pamela Coburn (1982) *Carla Cook (1982) *Nancy Gustafson (1982) *Hong Hei-kyung (1982) *Walter MacNeil (1982) *Sylvia McNair (1982) *Katharine Ritz (1982) *Kathleen Segar (1982) *Eduardo Villa (1982) *Harolyn Blackwell (1983) *Linda Caple (1983) *Jean Glennon (1983) *Elizabeth Holleque (1983) *Ellen Kerrigan (1983) *Joanne Kolomyjec (1983) *Alessandra Marc (1983) *Cecily Nall (1983) *Herbert Perry (1983) *Jo Ann Pickens (1983) *Stella Zambalis (1983) *Elaine Arandes (1984) *Philip Bologna (1984) *Richard Croft (tenor), Richard Croft (1984) *Gerald Dolter (1984) *Marcus Haddock (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 (bass-baritone), Richard Cowan (1985) *Julia Faulkner (1985) *Anne Johnson (1985) *Victoria Livengood (1985) *Deborah Voigt (1985) *Karen Williams (soprano), Karen Williams (1985) *Margaret Jane Wray (1985) *Donna Maria Zapola (1985) *Mark Baker (1986) *Susan Bender (1986) *Andrea Cawelti (1986) *Mark S. Doss (1986) *Gordon Hawkins (singer), Gordon Hawkins (1986) *Barbara Kilduff (1986) *Kim Marie Kodes (1986) *Marilyn Mims (1986) *Stanford Olsen (1986) *Deidra Palmour (1986) *Michael Sylvester (tenor), Michael Sylvester (1986) *Ned Barth (1987) *Mary Burt (1987) *Deborah Lynn Cole (1987) *Janet Folta (1987) *Amanda Halgrimson (1987) *Nikki Li Hartliep (1987) *Frederic Kalt (1987) *Mi-Hae Park (1987) *Celeste Tavera (1987) *Steven Tharp (1987) *Blythe Walker (1987) *Elizabeth Carter (1988) *Richard Drews (1988) *Renée Fleming (1988) *Haijing Fu (1988) *Susan Graham (1988) *Ben Heppner (1988) *Wendy Hoffman (1988) *Carolyn James (1988) *Lynda Keith (1988) *Heidi Grant Murphy (1988) *LeRoy Villanueva (1988) *Christine Brewer (1989) *Dong-Jian Gong (1989) *Dominique Labelle (1989) *Ning Liang (1989) *Mary Mills (soprano), Mary Mills (1989) *Mark Oswald (1989) *Kevin Short (singer), Kevin Short (1989) *Tichina Vaughn (1989) *Rosa Vento (1989) *Verónica Villarroel (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 (1991) *Demareus Cooper (1991) *Elizabeth Futral (1991) *Paul Groves (tenor), 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 Pulley, Emily Ann Pulley (1993) *Ainhoa Arteta (1993) *Elizabeth Bishop (mezzo-soprano), Elizabeth Bishop (1993) *Dennis McNeil (1993) *Norah Amsellem (1994) *John Robert Autry (1994) *Stephanie Blythe (1994) *Sheryl H. Cohen (1994) *Nathan Gunn (1994) *Olga Makarina (1994) *Mark Edward McCrory (1994) *John J. Osborn (1994) *Svetlana Serdar (1994) *Daniel Sumegi (1994) *Michael Chioldi (1995) *Robert Crowe (singer), Robert Crowe (1995) *Amelia Farrugia (1995) *Anita Johnson (1995) *Sujung Kim (1995) *Aline Kutan (1995) *Kelley Nassief (1995) *Sondra Radvanovsky (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 (bass-baritone), Eric Owens (1996) *Jami Rogers-Anderson, Jami Rogers (1996) *Jung-Hack Seo (1996) *Lynette Tapia (1996) *Isabel Bayrakdarian (1997) *Angela Brown (1997) *Alexandra Deshorties (1997) *Karen Henrikson (1997) *Sandra Yvonne Lopez (1997) *Mary Petro (1997) *Susan Tilbury (1997) *Andrea Trebnik (1997) *Mark Uhlemann (1997) *Jennifer Welch (1997) *Eric Cutler (1998) *Philip Horst (1998) *Kyle Ketelsen (1998) *Mariateresa Magisano (1998) *Keith Phares (1998) *Jane Shivick (1998) *Indra Thomas (1998) *David Walker (1998) *Chen-Ye Yuan (1998) *Maria Zifchak (1998) *Kelly Kaduce (1999) *Meagan Miller (1999) *Jossie Pérez (1999) *Barbara Quintiliani (1999) *Stacey Rishoi (1999)

2000s

*Elizabeth Batton (2000) *Esther Heideman (2000) *Lindsay Killian (2000) *Latonia Moore (2000) *Todd Wilander (2000) *Lawrence Brownlee (2001) *Melissa Citro (2001) *Rachelle Durkin (2001) *Jesús Garcia (2001) *Kristine Winkler (2001) *Carolyn Betty (2002) *Philippe Castagner (2002) *Twyla Robinson (2002) *James Valenti (2002) *Alyson Cambridge (2003) *Michael Maniaci (2003) *Christina Pier (2003) *Christian Van Horn (2003) *Meredith Arwady (2004) *Claudia Huckle (2004) *Laquita Mitchell (2004) *Jordan Bisch (2005) *Lisette Oropesa (2005) *Susanna Phillips (2005) *Rodell Aure Rosel (2005) *Paul Corona (2006) *Holli Harrison (2006) *Katherine Jolly (2006) *Marjorie Owens (2006) *Donovan Singletary (2006) *Jamie Barton (singer), Jamie Barton (2007) *Michael Fabiano (2007) *Angela Meade (2007) *Alek Shrader (2007) *Ryan Smith (2007) *Amber Wagner (2007) *René Barbera (2008) *Jennifer Johnson Cano (2008) *Daveda Karanas (2008) *Simone Osborne (2008) *Edward Parks (2008) *Paul Appleby (tenor), Paul Appleby (2009) *Anthony Roth Costanzo (2009) *Sung Eun Lee (2009) *Nadine Sierra (2009)

2010s

*Leah Crocetto, soprano (2010) *Lori Guilbeau, soprano (2010) *Elliot Madore, baritone (2010) *Nathaniel Peake, tenor (2010) *Rachel Willis-Sørensen, soprano (2010) *Joseph Barron, bass-baritone (2011) *Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone (2011) *Michelle Johnson, soprano (2011) *Joseph Lim, baritone (2011) *Philippe Sly, bass-baritone (2011) *Janai Brugger, soprano (2012) *Anthony Clark Evans, baritone (2012) *Matthew Grills, tenor (2012) *Margaret Mezzacappa, mezzo-soprano (2012) *Andrey Nemzer, countertenor (2012) *Michael Brandenburg, tenor (2013) *Brandon Cedel, bass-baritone (2013) *Sydney Mancasola, soprano (2013) *Musa Ngqungwana, bass-baritone (2013) *Rebecca Pedersen, soprano (2013) *Thomas Richards, bass-baritone (2013) *Julie Adams, soprano (2014) *Patrick Guetti, bass (2014) *Ao Li, bass-baritone (2014) *Yi Li, tenor (2014) *Amanda Woodbury, soprano (2014) *Nicholas Brownlee, bass-baritone (2015) *Marina Costa-Jackson, soprano (2015) *Joseph Dennis, tenor (2015) *Reginald Smith Jr., baritone (2015) *Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano (2015) *Emily D'Angelo, mezzo-soprano (2016) *Yelena Dyachek, soprano (2016) *Sol Jin, baritone (2016) *Jakub Józef Orliński, countertenor (2016) *Sean Michael Plumb, baritone (2016) *Kirsten MacKinnon, soprano (2017) *Vanessa Vasquez, soprano (2017) *Richard Smagur, tenor (2017) *Samantha Hankey, mezzo-soprano (2017) *Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, countertenor (2017) *Kyle van Schoonhoven, tenor (2017) *Ashley Dixon, mezzo-soprano (2018) *Jessica Faselt, soprano (2018) *Madison Leonard, soprano (2018) *Carlos Enrique Santelli, tenor (2018) *Hongni Wu, mezzo-soprano (2018) *Miles Mykkanen, tenor (2019) *William Guanbo Su, bass (2019) *Elena Villalón, soprano (2019) *Thomas Glass, baritone (2019) *Michaela Wolz, mezzo-soprano (2019)

2020s

*Gabrielle Beteag, mezzo-soprano (2020) *Blake Denson, baritone (2020) *Jonah Hoskins, tenor (2020) *Alexandria Shiner, soprano (2020) *Denis Vélez, soprano (2020) *Duke Kim, tenor (2021) *Kim Hyo-young, soprano (2021) *Raven McMillon, soprano (2021) *Emily Sierra, mezzo-soprano (2021) *Emily Treigle, mezzo-soprano (2021) *Le Bu, bass-baritone (2022) *Matthew Cairns, tenor (2022) *Alexandra Razskazoff, soprano (2022) *Julie Roset, soprano (2022) *Anne Marie Stanley, mezzo-soprano (2022) *Esther Tonea, soprano (2022) *Anthony León (tenor), Anthony León, tenor (2023) *Natalie Lewis, mezzo-soprano (2023) *Teresa Perrotta, soprano (2023) *Sarah Saturnino, mezzo-soprano (2023) *Christian Simmons, bass-baritone (2023) *Meredith Wohlgemuth, soprano (2023) *Daniel Espinal, tenor (2024) *Lydia Grindatto, soprano (2024) *Navasard Hakobyan, baritone (2024) *Meridian Prall, mezzo-soprano (2024) *Emily Richter, soprano (2024) *Sadie Cheslak, mezzo-soprano (2025) *Alissa Goretsky, soprano (2025) *Emma Marhefka, soprano (2025) *Michelle Mariposa, mezzo-soprano (2025) *Luke Sutliff, baritone (2025)

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.metopera.org/about/auditions/competition/, name=Official website
Winners and HistoryList of all winners
Metropolitan Opera Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Opera competitions Recurring events established in 1954 Opera-related lists 1954 establishments in the United States