The Metropolitan Opera has named tenor Ben Bliss the winner of the 2026 Beverly Sills Artist Award.

The annual $50,000 award recognizes extraordinarily gifted singers with rising Met careers.

Established in 2006 by an endowment gift from the late Agnes Varis, a former Met Board member, and her husband, Karl Leichtman, the award is given in honor of the legendary American soprano Beverly Sills.

Bliss was a Lindemann Young Artist who made his Met debut in 2014 as Vogelgesang in Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.” Since then he has gone on to sing Arturo in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” Belmonte in Mozart’s “Die Entführung aus dem Serail,” Tamino in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte,” the Steersman in Wagner’s “Der Fliegende Holländer,” Ferrando in Mozart’s “Così fan tutte,” Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress,” Don Ottavio in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” and Eric in Jeanine Tesori’s “Grounded.” Next season he performs Nikolaus Sprink in the company premiere of Kevin Puts’s “Silent Night.”

In a statement Bliss said, “I’m deeply honored to receive the Beverly Sills Award and be counted among the esteemed roster of former recipients. My connection to the Met began at home, reading my mother’s Opera News magazines. I remember taking a photo of Lincoln Center on my first visit to New York City in 2006, before I ever dreamed of singing at the Met or even pursuing a career in opera. To now call it my artistic home for nearly 15 years is truly extraordinary! It has been an amazing journey, filled with music and with wonderful colleagues and friends. I couldn’t be more blessed, honored, and proud!”

Bliss has performed at the Canadian Opera Company, Bayerische Staatsoper, Covent Garden, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and Wigmore Hall.

He has won the 2016 Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, the Mozart and Plácido Domingo Awards at the 2015 Francisco Viñas International Competition, first prize at the 2014 Gerda Lissner and Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competitions, and the 2013 Operalia Don Plácido Domingo Sr. Zarzuela Prize.

The award has been presented to an outstanding roster of previous winners: baritone Nathan Gunn in 2006, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in 2007, tenor Matthew Polenzani in 2008, bass-baritone John Relyea in 2009, soprano Susanna Phillips in 2010, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in 2011, soprano Angela Meade in 2012, tenor Bryan Hymel in 2013, tenor Michael Fabiano in 2014, baritone Quinn Kelsey in 2015, soprano Ailyn Pérez in 2016, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton in 2017, soprano Nadine Sierra in 2018, soprano Lisette Oropesa in 2019, and soprano Angel Blue in 2020. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating economic impact on singers, five recipients received the award in 2021: sopranos Erin Morley and Brenda Rae, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green. Subsequent recipients include baritone Will Liverman in 2022, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green in 2023, soprano Leah Hawkins in 2024, and soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen in 2025