Soprano Cassandra Wright has won the 2026 Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award, taking home the competition’s top prize on the eve of Dame Joan Sutherland’s 100th anniversary.

Wright, 32, from Cairns, Queensland, received the $40,000 first prize, the $5,300 Best Mozart Aria Prize, and the $1,000 Audience Choice Award, for a combined total of $46,300. She performed arias from “Rigoletto,” “Idomeneo,” “Louise,” and “La Traviata” over two days of competition at the Independent Theatre in North Sydney.

The soprano trained at the Queensland Conservatorium, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and the Georg Solti Bel Canto Accademia, launching her career in the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus. She relocated to Germany in 2023 and is currently a member of the soloist ensemble at Theater Freiburg, where her roles have included Gilda in “Rigoletto,” Sophie in “Werther,” and Anne Trulove in “The Rake’s Progress.” She has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall and in recital at Wigmore Hall, and released her debut album, “In the Twilight,” on Linn Records in 2024. She is set to make her role debut as Violetta in “La Traviata” next season, and in October will perform in the Tait Memorial Trust’s centenary concert for Dame Joan Sutherland at Australia House in London, with Richard Bonynge in attendance.

Additional Bel Canto Award honors went to mezzo soprano Ella Orehek Coddington of Sydney, who received the $10,000 Richard Bonynge Award; baritone Daniel Ott of Sydney, who received the $7,000 Helen Johnstone Award; tenor Jordan Foniti Fuimaono of New Zealand, who received the $6,000 Friends of the JSRB Foundation Award and Tait Memorial Trust Prize; bass Jack Bolton of Brisbane, who received the $5,000 John Wegner Award; and mezzo soprano Chloe James of Victoria, who received the $3,000 Finalist Prize. Mezzo soprano Cassandra Doyle of Sydney received the $1,000 Joan Sutherland Centenary Encouragement Award. In total, $78,300 was awarded across the Bel Canto Award.

Soprano Izabelle Zammit and pianist Julia An, both of Sydney, won the 2026 Sydney International Song Prize, performing a 20-minute recital of six songs by Barber, Schoenberg, Debussy, and Wolf. Zammit and An each received the $5,000 top prize in their respective categories, along with the $500 Audience Prize. Soprano Sophie Hamer of Perth and pianist Zachary Hamilton Russell of Melbourne each received the $2,000 second prize in their categories. A total of $15,000 was awarded across the Song Prize. Singers Emily Davis and Karyn Djojo Dihardjo, both of Perth, withdrew from the competition due to illness.

The judging panel included singers Simon O’Neill, Ghillian Sullivan, and Bernadette Cullen, alongside the foundation’s CEO, Fiona Janes.