The San Francisco Opera has announced that Arturo Chacón-Cruz has been named winner of the 2017 Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Competition, earning him the distinction of “2017 Emerging Star of the Year.”

The tenor is coming off a run of “La Bohème” at the San Francisco Opera, where he earned solid reviews all around. He was chosen via popular vote, which was conducted online between July 5 and August 5, 2017. He will win a cash prize of $10,000.

Chacón-Cruz is among 14 artists supported by the the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Fund during the 2016-17 season.

“I am very grateful to the San Francisco Opera family for this nomination,” said Arturo Chacón-Cruz. “It was an amazingly rewarding experience to come back to San Francisco to sing Rodolfo in La Bohème, with incredible colleagues and an involved and supportive audience. I want to especially thank Maria Manetti Shrem and Jan Shrem for their generosity in sponsoring this great initiative to spread our work and craft around the world. I am overwhelmed by the love and support I received from my friends on my social media platforms, where I received thousands of messages from all around the globe. Thank you, dear friends, for making it possible to receive this honor!”

The tenor celebrates his 40^th birthday on Sunday, August 20, 2017.