Karen Chia-Ling Ho Named 2025 Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Star of the Year

San Francisco Opera has announced Taiwanese soprano Karen Chia-ling Ho as the winner of the 2024–25 Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Competition.

Recognized through a popular vote conducted online from June 30 to August 1, Ho receives a $10,000 cash prize for her acclaimed role debut as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème this summer.

Ho made her San Francisco Opera debut in 2016 creating the role of Princess Jia in the world premiere of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang’s Dream of the Red Chamber, which she reprised in 2022 and on tour in Hong Kong and China.

This season, she performed Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with Florentine Opera Company, Parnassus Society, and Vancouver Opera, and has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, More Than Music Festival, and other leading companies worldwide.

Established through a multi-year gift from Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, the Emerging Stars Fund celebrates rising artists in San Francisco Opera’s season. Past winners include sopranos Andriana Chuchman and Yaritza Véliz, countertenor Carlo Vistoli, tenors Arturo Chacón-Cruz and Atalla Ayan, and baritone Lucas Meachem.

San Francisco / Bay Area Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. URINETOWN (Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble)

16.7% of votes

2. THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company / Z Space)

9.3% of votes

3. SWEENEY TODD (Cabrillo Stage)

8.4% of votes

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