The Operalia Competition has announced the 2026 jury.

This year’s jury will be made up of Sophie de Lint (Director, Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam), Marta Domingo (Stage Director), Jonathan Friend (Casting Consultant, Houston Grand Opera
Artistic Advisor, Irish National Opera, Dublin
Casting Consultant, Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm), Michael Heaston (Deputy General Manager, The Metropolitan Opera, New York), Peter Katona (Director of Casting, Royal Ballet and Opera, London), Robert Körner (Casting Director, Wiener Staatsoper), Liao Chiangyong (President, Shanghai Conservatory of Music
President, Shangyin Opera House), Erik Malmquist (Head of Casting, Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich), Isla Mundell-Perkins (Director of Artistic Administration, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence), Christina Scheppelmann (General and Artistic Director, La Monnaie/De Munt, Brussel), Sebastian F. Schwarz (Casting Manager, Teatro alla Scala di Milano), and Evamaria Wieser (Casting Consultant & Director of the Young Singers Project, Salzburg Festival
European Casting Consultant, Lyric Opera of Chicago).

The competition will be hosted by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Shangyin Opera House from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1, 2026.

Previous winners Ekaterine Buachidze, Mihai Damian, Kathleen O’Mara, Le Bu, Juliana Grigoryan, Anthony León, Adriana Gonzalez, Xabier Anduaga, Adela Zaharia, and Levy Sekgapane.