American tenor Jack Swanson has been named the winner of the 2026 Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Competition at San Francisco Opera.

Swanson, who made his house debut this summer as Count Almaviva in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” was selected through a public online vote conducted from June 30 through August 5. The award carries a $10,000 cash prize and is now in its eighth year.

A Minnesota native, Swanson’s upcoming engagements include appearances at the Opéra National de Paris and Teatro alla Scala as Count Almaviva, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in “La Clemenza di Tito” and “The Magic Flute,” Teatro di San Carlo as Don Ramiro in “La Cenerentola,” and his Carnegie Hall recital debut.

“I am incredibly humbled and grateful to San Francisco Opera and to Maria Manetti Shrem for their extraordinary generosity and support. This past summer marked my first time in San Francisco, and the city has already claimed a special place in my heart. From the audiences to the artistry to the people who make this company what it is, everything about my time there was exceptional,” Swanson said,  per an official press release.

Swanson was one of fourteen nominated artists from San Francisco Opera’s 2025–26 season supported by the Emerging Stars Fund. Among the other nominees were sopranos Brittany Renee and Mei Gui Zhang, mezzo-sopranos Maria Kataeva and Hongni Wu, tenors Levy Sekgapane and Kang Wang, baritones Justin Austin and Jusung Gabriel Park, and basses Peixin Chen and Riccardo Fassi.

Past recipients of the award include countertenor Carlo Vistoli, baritone Lucas Meachem, and sopranos Andriana Chuchman and Yaritza Véliz.

The Emerging Stars Fund was established through a multimillion-dollar gift from Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, longtime benefactors of the company.

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