Contestants and Judges Announced for Plácido Domingo's Operalia, The World Opera Competition

Representing 17 nations, 40 young singers have been selected to compete in the 22nd edition of Plácido Domingo's Operalia, the World Opera Competition, hosted by LA Opera this summer. The contest will be held from August 25 through 30, 2014. Tickets to the competition's final round-a Gala Finals Concert featuring the LA Opera Orchestra conducted by Mr. Domingo at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at 7:00pm on Saturday, August 30-are now on sale.

Operalia 2014 Contestants and Jury
For a list of the 40 singers chosen to compete in Operalia and the 14 jury members who will judge the competition, please click here for a Word document or here for a PDF.

Competition Events
Each year, the competition receives close to 1,000 applications. Of these, 40 young international competitors of all voice ranges will be flown to Los Angeles for the preliminary rounds on August 25 and 26, with 20 continuing in the semifinals on August 27. Only ten singers will reach the final round, which will be presented as a Gala Finals Concert with orchestra conducted by Mr. Domingo, taking place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at 7:00pm on Saturday, August 30. Supervised by Plácido Domingo as a non-voting member, an international panel of 14 judges-including managers and casting directors from the world's great opera houses-will then select and announce the winners of the competition.

Ticket Information
Tickets to the Operalia finals on Saturday, August 30, are now on sale. Tickets start at $9 and can be purchased in person at the LA Opera Box Office at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, by phone at 213.972.8001 or online at www.LAOpera.org/Operalia. For disability access, call 213.972.0777 or email laopera@laopera.org.

Live Streaming
The Gala Finals Concert on August 30 at 7:00pm will be streamed on www.medici.tv

About Operalia
Operalia, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary last year, was founded by Plácido Domingo in 1993 to discover, recognize and support the most outstanding emerging young opera singers of today. His goal is to attract singers from every corner of the world and have them audition for a very significant group of well-established international opera impresarios and casting directors in the utmost prestigious and competitive showcase in the world. Mr. Domingo is actively present throughout the competition. and although he does not vote himself, he oversees the proceedings and is committed to offering artistic and career advice to all of the participants. Participating or even winning a prize in this competition is only the beginning of a singer's relationship with Mr. Domingo and Operalia. Since the distinguished jury is primarily comprised of general directors or casting directors from important international opera houses, some singers frequently also depart with potential engagements and contracts to perform in some of these opera houses' productions.

Participation in Operalia has proven to be a vital stepping stone to many of these young singers' careers. Previous winners include many stars currently appearing on opera stages around the world: René Barbera, Joseph Calleja, José Cura, Joyce DiDonato, Elizabeth Futral, He Hui, Ana María Martínez, Ryan McKinny, Lisette Oropesa, Eric Owens, Ailyn Perez, Erwin Schrott, Nina Stemme, Rolando Villazón, Pretty Yende and Sonya Yoncheva, among many others. In 2012, soprano Janai Brugger, a member of LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program at the time, was the first-place female Operalia winner.

Committed to excellence, elegance and consistency, Rolex is once again proud to present Plácido Domingo's Operalia, the World Opera Competition, marking its 13th consecutive collaboration.

Additional Information

For more information about Operalia, please visit www.OperaliaCompetition.org.

Photo Credit: Robert Millard