Operalia

Operalia, The World Opera Competition is an annual international competition for young opera singers. Founded in 1993 by Plácido Domingo, the competition has helped launch the careers of several important artists, such as Joseph Calleja, Giuseppe Filianoti, Rolando Villazón, José Cura, Joyce DiDonato, Elizabeth Futral, Inva Mula, Ana María Martínez and Sonya Yoncheva.

Overview

Operalia is based in Paris but hosts its competition in a different city each year. Cities which have hosted the competition include Paris at both the Palais Garnier and Théâtre du Châtelet, Mexico City at the Televisa Recording Studios, Madrid at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Bordeaux at the Grand Théâtre, Tokyo at the Kan-I Hoken Hall, Hamburg at the Laeiszhalle, Puerto Rico at the Luis A. Ferré Performing Arts Center, Los Angeles at both UCLA's Royce Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Washington, D.C. at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium, the Lake Constance region in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, Madrid at the Teatro Real, Valencia at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Québec at the Palais Montcalm and Grand Théâtre de Québec, Astana at Astana Opera and Lisbon at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos.

The competition is open to singers between the ages of 18 and 32 who are already performing at a highly skilled level. All voice types of both sexes are able to compete. Participants in the competition are selected by audition through a submitted recording to Operalia. A panel of three judges listens and evaluates the audition tapes. Only the top 40 submissions are invited to compete in the competition. Typically the organization receives 800 to 1,000 submissions each year, making entry into the competition alone an honor.

The competition is presided over every year by Plácido Domingo, although he himself does not judge the competition. A jury of 10 opera directors from important opera houses all over the world is assembled to judge the competition. Competitors must prepare 4 arias for the competition which consists of four rounds. In the first round each singer gets to choose one aria they want to sing and then the jury selects the other aria from their list of four for them to perform. Singers can also compete in a separate zarzuela competition. If they choose to do so they would perform an additional zarzuela piece in each round. Of the 40 singers, half of them are eliminated in the first round. The second round involves the performance of one more aria, after which only 10 singers move on to the next round. Likewise, the third round eliminates half of the singers, leaving only five participants in the final round. The first three rounds are performed with piano accompaniment and the final round is sung with a symphonic orchestra conducted by Plácido Domingo. Eleven singers make it into the final round of the general opera competition with five singers named as finalists in the zarzuela competition.

The competition has a total of 10 prizes which total up to 175,000 US dollars. In the general competition 1st prize, 2nd prize, and 3rd prize are awarded, one of each to both sexes, making a total of 6 prizes. Within the zarzuela competition two prizes are awarded, one to a male singer and one to a female singer. These prizes are named in honor of Domingo's parents, Plácido Domingo Ferrer and Pepita Embil, both of whom were popular zarzuela singers. There is also a prize awarded by the audience of the final competition to one female singer and one male singer, and the Birgit Nilsson Prize for performance in the German repertoire of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner. It is possible for a singer to win more than one award. More important than the money received by the prize is the recognition and career boost given by the competition. It is normal for the opera directors judging the competition to engage competition winners for future opera performances with their companies, or for them to connect artists with other opera directors.

List of winners

Year, place	Prize(s)	Name	Voice type	Country
2018, Lisbon	1st Prize & Birgit Nilsson Prize & Audience Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Emily D’Angelo	mezzo-soprano	Canada / Italy
2018, Lisbon	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Pavel Petrov	tenor	Belarus
2018, Lisbon	2nd Prize	Migran Agadzhanyan	tenor	Russia
2018, Lisbon	2nd Prize & Birgit Nilsson Prize	Samantha Hankey	mezzo-soprano	United States
2018, Lisbon	3rd Prize	Arseny Yakovlev	tenor	Russia
2018, Lisbon	3rd Prize	Rihab Chaieb	mezzo-soprano	Canada
2018, Lisbon	CulturArte Prize	Josy Santos	mezzo-soprano	Brazil
2018, Lisbon	Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Luis Gomes	tenor	Portugal
2017, Astana	1st Prize	Levy Sekgapane	tenor	South Africa
2017, Astana	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Adela Zaharia	soprano	Romania
2017, Astana	2nd Prize	Kristina Mkhitaryan	soprano	Russia
2017, Astana	2nd Prize	Davide Giusti	tenor	Italy
2017, Astana	3rd Prize & Audience Prize	Maria Mudryak	soprano	Kazakhstan
2017, Astana	3rd Prize & Audience Prize	Leon Kim	baritone	South Korea
2017, Astana	Birgit Nilsson Prize	Oksana Sekerina	soprano	Russia
2017, Astana	Birgit Nilsson Prize	Boris Prýgl	bass-baritone	Czech Republic
2017, Astana	CulturArte Prize	Sooyeon Lee	soprano	South Korea
2017, Astana	Zarzuela Prize	Marco Ciaponi	tenor	Italy
2016, Guadalajara	1st Prize	Elsa Dreisig	soprano	France
2016, Guadalajara	1st Prize	Keon-Woo Kim	tenor	South Korea
2016, Guadalajara	2nd Prize	Bogdan Volkov	tenor	Russia
2015, London	1st Prize & Birgit Nilsson Prize & Audience Prize	Lise Davidsen	soprano	Norway
2015, London	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Ioan Hotea	tenor	Romania
2015, London	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Darren Pene Pati	tenor	New Zealand
2015, London	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Hyesang Park	soprano	South Korea
2015, London	3rd Prize	Edward Parks	baritone	United States
2015, London	3rd Prize	Noluvuyiso Mpofu	soprano	South Africa
2015, London	CulturArte Prize	Kiandra Howarth	soprano	Australia
2014, Los Angeles	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Birgit Nilsson Prize	Rachel Willis-Sørensen	soprano	United States
2014, Los Angeles	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Mario Chang	tenor	Guatemala
2014, Los Angeles	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Amanda Woodbury	soprano	United States
2014, Los Angeles	2nd Prize & CulturArte Prize	Joshua Guerrero	tenor	United States/Mexico
2014, Los Angeles	3rd Prize	Andrey Nemzer	countertenor	Russia
2014, Los Angeles	3rd Prize	Mariangela Sicilia	soprano	Italy
2014, Los Angeles	3rd Prize	John Holiday	countertenor	United States
2014, Los Angeles	3rd Prize	Anaïs Constans	soprano	France
2013, Verona	1st Prize	Ao Li	bass-baritone	China
2013, Verona	1st Prize	Aida Garifullina	soprano	Russia
2013, Verona	2nd Prize	Julie Fuchs	soprano	France
2013, Verona	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Simone Piazzola	baritone	Italy
2013, Verona	3rd Prize & Audience Prize	Kathryn Lewek	soprano	United States
2013, Verona	3rd Prize	Zach Borichevsky	tenor	United States
2013, Verona	Birgit Nilsson Prize	Claudia Huckle	contralto	United Kingdom
2013, Verona	Birgit Nilsson Prize	Tracy Cox	soprano	United States
2013, Verona	CulturArte Prize	Vladimir Dmitruk	tenor	Belarus
2013, Verona	Zarzuela Prize	Hae Ji Chang	soprano	South Korea
2013, Verona	Zarzuela Prize	Benjamin Bliss	tenor	United States
2012, Beijing	1st Prize	Anthony Roth Costanzo	countertenor	United States
2012, Beijing	1st Prize	Enkhbatyn Amartüvshin	baritone	Mongolia
2012, Beijing	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Janai Brugger	soprano	United States
2012, Beijing	2nd Prize	Guanqun Yu	soprano	United States
2012, Beijing	2nd Prize & Birgit Nilsson Prize	Brian Jagde	tenor	United States
2012, Beijing	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Yunpeng Wang	baritone	China
2012, Beijing	CulturArte Prize	Antonio Poli	tenor	Italy
2012, Beijing	3rd Prize	Nadezhda Karyazina	mezzo-soprano	Russia
2012, Beijing	3rd Prize	Roman Burdenko	baritone	Russia
2011, Moscow	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Pretty Yende	soprano	South Africa
2011, Moscow	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	René Barbera	tenor	United States
2011, Moscow	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Olga Busuioc	soprano	Moldova
2011, Moscow	2nd Prize	Konstantin Shushakov	baritone	Russia
2011, Moscow	3rd Prize	Olga Pudova	soprano	Russia
2011, Moscow	3rd Prize	Jaesig Lee	tenor	South Korea
2011, Moscow	CulturArte Prize	Javier Arrey	baritone	Chile
2010, Milan	1st Prize & CulturArte Prize	Sonya Yoncheva	soprano	Bulgaria
2010, Milan	1st Prize & Audience Prize	Stefan Pop	tenor	Romania
2010, Milan	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Rosa Feola	soprano	Italy
2010, Milan	2nd Prize	Giordano Lucà	tenor	Italy
2010, Milan	2nd Prize	Ievgen Orlov	bass	Ukraine
2010, Milan	3rd Prize	Dinara Aliyeva	soprano	Azerbaijan
2010, Milan	3rd Prize	Chae Jun Lim	bass	South Korea
2010, Milan	Zarzuela Prize	Nathaniel Peake	tenor	United States
2010, Milan	Birgit Nilsson Prize	Ryan McKinny	bass-baritone	United States
2009, Pécs/Budapest	1st Prize & Audience Prize	Julia Novikova	soprano	Russia
2009, Pécs/Budapest	1st Prize	Alexey Kudrya	tenor	Russia
2009, Pécs/Budapest	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Angel Blue	soprano	United States
2009, Pécs/Budapest	2nd Prize	Jordan Bisch	bass	United States
2009, Pécs/Budapest	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Dimitrios Flemotomos	tenor	Greece
2009, Pécs/Budapest	3rd Prize	Kostas Smoriginas	bass-baritone	Lithuania
2009, Pécs/Budapest	3rd Prize	Auxiliadora Toledano	soprano	Spain
2009, Pécs/Budapest	3rd Prize	Anita Watson	soprano	Australia
2009, Pécs/Budapest	3rd Prize	Wenwei Zhang	bass	China
2009, Pécs/Budapest	CulturArte Prize	Arnold Rutkowski	tenor	Poland
2008, Québec	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize	María Alejandres Katzarava	soprano	Mexico
2008, Québec	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize & CulturArte Prize	Joel Prieto	tenor	Spain / Puerto Rico
2008, Québec	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Thiago Arancam	tenor	Brazil
2008, Québec	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Oksana Kramaryeva	soprano	Ukraine
2008, Québec	3rd Prize	Elena Xanthoudakis	soprano	Greece/Australia
2008, Québec	3rd Prize	Karoly Szemeredy	baritone	Hungary
2008, Québec	Zarzuela Prize	Ketevan Kemoklidze	mezzo-soprano	Georgia
2007, Paris	1st Prize	Ekaterina Lekhina	soprano	Russia
2007, Paris	1st Prize	Tae Joong Yang	baritone	South Korea
2007, Paris	2nd Prize	Olga Peretyatko	soprano	Russia
2007, Paris	2nd Prize	David Bižić	baritone	Serbia
2007, Paris	2nd Prize	Dmytro Popov	tenor	Ukraine
2007, Paris	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Marco Caria	baritone	Italy
2007, Paris	3rd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Lisette Oropesa	soprano	United States
2007, Paris	CulturArte Prize	Carmen Solis Gonzalez	soprano	Spain
2007, Paris	Zarzuela Prize	Rachele Gilmore	soprano	United States
2007, Paris	Zarzuela Prize	Carine Sechehaye	mezzo-soprano	Switzerland
2007, Paris	Zarzuela Prize	Aurelio Gabaldon	tenor	Spain
2006, Valencia	1st Prize	Maija Kovaļevska	soprano	Latvia
2006, Valencia	1st Prize & Zarzuela Prize	David Lomeli	tenor	Mexico
2006, Valencia	2nd Prize	Ailyn Pérez	soprano	United States
2006, Valencia	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Sébastien Guèze	tenor	France
2006, Valencia	3rd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Maria Teresa Alberola Banuls	soprano	Spain
2006, Valencia	3rd Prize	Trevor Scheunemann	baritone	United States
2006, Valencia	CulturArte Prize	Karen Vuong	soprano	United States
2005, Madrid	1st Prize & Audience Prize	Susanna Phillips	soprano	United States
2005, Madrid	1st Prize	Vasily Ladyuk	baritone	Russia
2005, Madrid	2nd Prize	Joseph Kaiser	tenor	Canada
2005, Madrid	2nd Prize	Diogenes Randes	bass	Brazil
2005, Madrid	3rd Prize	David Menendez Diaz	baritone	Spain
2005, Madrid	3rd Prize	Joshua Langston Hopkins	baritone	Canada
2005, Madrid	Zarzuela Prize & CulturArte Prize	Arturo Chacón Cruz	tenor	Mexico
2005, Madrid	Zarzuela Prize	Kinga Dobay	mezzo-soprano	Germany
2004, Los Angeles	1st Prize	Woo Kyung Kim	tenor	South Korea
2004, Los Angeles	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Nataliya Kovalova	soprano	Ukraine
2004, Los Angeles	3rd Prize	Dimitry Voropaev	tenor	Russia
2004, Los Angeles	4th Prize	Mikhail Petrenko	bass	Russia
2004, Los Angeles	4th Prize	Maria Jooste	soprano	South Africa
2004, Los Angeles	4th Prize	Vitaly Bilyy	baritone	Ukraine
2004, Los Angeles	4th Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Dmitry Korchak	tenor	Russia
2004, Los Angeles	CulturArte Prize	Irina Lungu	soprano	Russia
2004, Los Angeles	Zarzuela Prize	In-Sung Sim	baritone	South Korea
2003, Bodensee	1st Prize	Adriana Damato	soprano	Italy
2003, Bodensee	2nd Prize	Jozef Gjipali	tenor	Albania
2003, Bodensee	3rd Prize & Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Israel Lozano	tenor	Spain
2003, Bodensee	3rd Prize	Jesus Garcia	tenor	United States
2003, Bodensee	Zarzuela Prize	Sabina Puértolas	soprano	Spain
2003, Bodensee	Zarzuela Prize	Jennifer Check	soprano	United States
2003, Bodensee	Zarzuela Prize	Mario Cassi	baritone	Italy
2002, Paris	1st Prize	Carmen Giannattasio	soprano	Italy
2002, Paris	1st Prize	Elena Manistina	mezzo-soprano	Russia
2002, Paris	2nd Prize	Stéphane Degout	baritone	France
2002, Paris	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	John Matz	tenor	United States
2002, Paris	3rd Prize	Maria Fontosh	soprano	Russia
2002, Paris	CulturArte Prize	Kate Aldrich	mezzo-soprano	United States
2002, Paris	Zarzuela Prize	Anna Kiknadze	mezzo-soprano	Georgia
2002, Paris	Zarzuela Prize	Jae Hyoung Kim	tenor	South Korea
2001, Washington, D.C.	1st Prize	Guang Yang	mezzo-soprano	China
2001, Washington, D.C.	2nd Prize	Alessandra Rezza	soprano	Italy
2001, Washington, D.C.	2nd Prize	Hyoung-Kyoo Kang	baritone	South Korea
2001, Washington, D.C.	3rd Prize	Maya Daskuk	soprano	Russia
2001, Washington, D.C.	CulturArte Prize	Lasha Nikabadze	tenor	Georgia
2001, Washington, D.C.	Audience Prize	Elisaveta Martirosyan	soprano	Georgia
2001, Washington, D.C.	Zarzuela Prize	Valeriano Lanchas	bass	Colombia
2001, Washington, D.C.	Zarzuela Prize	Jossie Perez	mezzo-soprano	United States
2001, Washington, D.C.	Zarzuela Prize	Antonio Gandia	tenor	Spain
2001, Washington, D.C.	Zarzuela Prize	Eugenia Garza	soprano	Mexico
2000, Los Angeles	1st Prize	Isabel Bayrakdarian	soprano	Canada
2000, Los Angeles	2nd Prize	He Hui	soprano	China
2000, Los Angeles	2nd Prize	Daniil Shtoda	tenor	Russia
2000, Los Angeles	3rd Prize	Robert Pomakov	bass	Canada
2000, Los Angeles	3rd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Konstyantyn Andreyev	tenor	Ukraine
2000, Los Angeles	Zarzuela Prize	Arnold Kocharyan	baritone	Armenia
2000, Los Angeles	Zarzuela Prize & Audience Prize	Virginia Tola	soprano	Argentina
1999, San Juan	1st Prize	Orlin Anastassov	bass	Bulgaria
1999, San Juan	2nd Prize & Audience Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Rolando Villazón	tenor	Mexico
1999, San Juan	2nd Prize	Giuseppe Filianoti	tenor	Italy
1999, San Juan	3rd Prize	Yali-Marie Williams	soprano	Puerto Rico
1999, San Juan	CulturArte Prize	Vitalij Kowaljow	bass	Ukraine
1999, San Juan	CulturArte Prize	Joseph Calleja	tenor	Malta
1999, San Juan	Zarzuela Prize	Mariola Cantarero	soprano	Spain
1998, Hamburg	1st Prize & Audience Prize	Erwin Schrott	bass	Uruguay
1998, Hamburg	2nd Prize	Ludovic Tezier	baritone	France
1998, Hamburg	2nd Prize	Joyce DiDonato	mezzo-soprano	United States
1998, Hamburg	3rd Prize	Maki Mori	soprano	Japan
1998, Hamburg	CulturArte Prize	Jae Chul Bae	tenor	South Korea
1998, Hamburg	Zarzuela Prize	Andión Fernández	soprano	Philippines
1998, Hamburg	Zarzuela Prize	Carlos Cosías	tenor	Spain
1997, Tokyo	1st Prize	Chang Yong Liao	baritone	China
1997, Tokyo	1st Prize & Audience Prize	Carla Maria Izzo	soprano	Italy
1997, Tokyo	2nd Prize	Jung-Hack Seo	baritone	South Korea
1997, Tokyo	2nd Prize & Zarzuela Prize	Aquiles Machado	tenor	Venezuela
1997, Tokyo	3rd Prize	Xiu Wei Sun	soprano	China
1997, Tokyo	Zarzuela Prize	Angel Rodriguez Rivero	tenor	Spain
1996, Bordeaux	1st Prize	John Osborn	tenor	United States
1996, Bordeaux	1st Prize & Audience Prize	Lynette Tapia	soprano	United States
1996, Bordeaux	2nd Prize	Phyllis Pancella	mezzo-soprano	United States
1996, Bordeaux	2nd Prize	Eric Owens	bass	United States
1996, Bordeaux	3rd Prize	Vittorio Vitelli	baritone	Italy
1996, Bordeaux	3rd Prize	Carlos Moreno	tenor	Spain
1996, Bordeaux	Zarzuela Prize	Nancy Herrera	mezzo-soprano	Spain
1996, Bordeaux	Zarzuela Prize	Oziel Garza-Ornelas	baritone	Mexico
1995, Madrid	1st Prize	Miguel Angel Zapater	bass	Spain
1995, Madrid	1st Prize	Sung Eun Kim	soprano	South Korea
1995, Madrid	2nd Prize	Elizabeth Futral	soprano	United States
1995, Madrid	2nd Prize & Audience Prize	Dimitra Theodossiou	soprano	Greece
1995, Madrid	3rd Prize	Carmen Oprisanu	mezzo-soprano	Romania
1995, Madrid	Zarzuela Prize	Ana María Martínez	soprano	Puerto Rico
1995, Madrid	Zarzuela Prize	Rafael Rojas	tenor	Mexico
1994, Mexico City	Winner & Audience Prize	José Cura	tenor	Argentina
1994, Mexico City	Winner	Brian Asawa	countertenor	United States
1994, Mexico City	Winner	Bruce Fowler	tenor	United States
1994, Mexico City	Winner	Simone Alberghini	bass	Italy
1994, Mexico City	Winner	Maria Cecilia Diaz	mezzo-soprano	Argentina
1994, Mexico City	Winner	Masako Teshima	mezzo-soprano	Japan
1994, Mexico City	Winner	Oxana Arkaeva	soprano	Ukraine
1993, Paris	Winner & Audience Prize	Ainhoa Arteta	soprano	Spain
1993, Paris	Winner	Inva Mula	soprano	Albania
1993, Paris	Winner	Nina Stemme	mezzo-soprano	Sweden
1993, Paris	Winner	Kwangchul Youn	bass	South Korea

See also

• List of classical music competitions

External links

• Official website