Six Singers Named Winners Of The 2026 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

The Met has announced the winners of the 2026 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition: sopranos Shannon Crowley, Elizabeth Hanje, Song Hee Lee, and Anna Thompson; and baritones Gabriel Natal-Báez and Robert Wente. Following a season-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of judges named these six singers as the winners. Each winner receives a $20,000 cash prize and the prestige, exposure, and networking opportunities that come with winning a renowned competition that has launched the careers of many of opera's most well-known stars.

The 2026 winners, their ages, the regions that they represent in the competition, and their hometowns are:

• Shannon Crowley, 25, soprano (Great Lakes Region; Virginia Beach, Virginia); Patricia Misslin Award
• Elizabeth Hanje, 23, soprano (Northwest Region; Vestavia Hills, Alabama); Margaret M. Dyson Award
• Song Hee Lee, 28, soprano (Eastern Region; Seoul, South Korea); Pamela and William Craven Award
• Gabriel Natal-Báez, 27, baritone (Gulf Coast Region; Toa Alta, Puerto Rico);

Dominique Laffont Award

• Anna Thompson, 26, soprano (Middle Atlantic Region; Rochester, Michigan); The American-Scandinavian Foundation Birgit Nilsson Award
• Robert Wente, 26, baritone (Central Region; Munster, Indiana); Fernand Lamesch Award

The remaining four non-winning finalists, who each receive a $10,000 cash prize, are:

• Sophia Baete, 23, mezzo-soprano (Eastern Region; Louisville, Kentucky); Margaret M. Dyson Award
• Gabrielle Turgeon, 25, soprano (Rocky Mountain Region; Boynton Beach, Florida); Anne de Richemont Smithers Award
• Dejah Watts, 22, soprano (Central Region; Indianapolis, Indiana); Judith Raskin Award
• Shiyu Zhuo, 26, soprano (Eastern Region; Zhejiang, China); Ellie Caulkins Award

The ten finalists performed in the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Grand Finals Concert, hosted by 2005 winner soprano Lisette Oropesa, with soprano Tamara Wilson, a Laffont alumna, joining as guest artist.

The panel of judges for the Grand Finals Concert included:

• Rupert Burleigh; Director of Music Administration, The Metropolitan Opera
• Christopher Hahn; General Director, Pittsburgh Opera
• Michael Heaston; Deputy General Manager, The Metropolitan Opera
• Brian Speck; Artistic Administrator, The Metropolitan Opera
• Melissa Wegner; Executive Director, Laffont Competition and Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, The Metropolitan Opera
• Francesca Zambello; Artistic Director, Washington National Opera

The singers each performed two arias on the Met stage, accompanied by the Met Orchestra and conducted by Maestro Carlo Rizzi.

This season saw the most participants in the competition's history, with more than 1,700 applicants and more than 900 singers competing live across 13 regions and 39 districts. This season, the competition also partnered with the Ibáñez Atkinson Foundation to start a South America Region with districts in Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition is operated at the district and region level by hundreds of dedicated volunteers and donors from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. More than $300,000 in prize money has already been awarded in the district and regional rounds. Throughout the season, more than $500,000 in awards money will be granted to singers.

The Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, formerly known since its founding in 1954 as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, is now in its 72nd season. The Met's vocal competition is a career-making opportunity for aspiring opera singers, given the reach of the auditions, the number of applicants, and the program's long tradition. The Competition has been crucial in introducing many of today's best-known opera stars, including Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, Eric Owens, Stephanie Blythe, Hei-Kyung Hong, Sondra Radvanovsky, Lawrence Brownlee, Michael Fabiano, Latonia Moore, Lisette Oropesa, Jamie Barton, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green, and Nadine Sierra.

The Competition gained international renown with the release of the 2008 feature-length documentary The Audition, directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, which chronicled the 2007 National Council Auditions season and Grand Finals Concert.