The Operalia Competition has announced its 2025 winners.

The first prize winners were Georgian mezzo-soprano Ekaterine Buachidze and Romanian baritone Mihai Damian.

The second prize was awarded to American mezzo-soprano Natalie Lewis and Armenian baritone Grisha Martirosyan.

Russian soprano Samira Galimova and Italian tenor Dave Monaco won teh third prize.

The Birgit Nilsson Prize was given to mezzo-soprano Lewis and Austrian bass-baritone Alexander Grassauer.

In the zarzuela categories, Georgian mezzo-soprano Buachidze won the Pepita Embil Prize of Zarzuela, while Armenian baritone Martirosyan won the Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela.

Buachidze was also awarded the Rolex Prize of the Audience, as was Romanian baritone Damian.

UK bass William Thomas won the CulturArte Prize, while Mihai Damian and Dave Monaco took home the Special Prizes by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture.

The finals were held at the Bulgarian Concert Hall in Sofia, Bulgaria on Oct. 26. The jury was made up by Isamay Benavente (Artistic Director, Teatro de la Zarzuela Madrid), Sophie de Lint (Director, Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam), Marta Domingo (Stage Director), Jonathan Friend (Artistic Advisor, Irish National Opera, Dublin; Casting Consultant, Royal Swedish Opera, Stockholm), Paolo Gavazzeni (Artistic Coordinator, Teatro alla Scala di Milano), Tobias Hasan (Opera Director,  Staatsoper Berlin), Peter Katona (Director of Casting, Royal Opera House, London), Robert Körner (Casting Director, Wiener Staatsoper), Joan Matabosch (Artistic Director, Teatro Real, Madrid), Erik Malmquist (Head of Casting, Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich), Evamaria Wieser (Casting Consultant & Director of the Young Singers Project, Salzburg Festival, European Casting Consultant, Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Sonya Yoncheva (Soprano, Founder of SY11 Events).