Louise Alder, Lise Davidsen, Rosa Feola, Jonathan Tetelman, Lawrence Brownlee, Clay Hilley & Lisette Oropesa Among Nominees for 2026 International Opera Awards
By Francisco SalazarThe International Opera Awards have announced the 2026 nominees.
The nominees for company of the year included Atlanta Opera, Croatian National Opera, Zagreb, English National Opera, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Opéra de Lyon, and Teatro Real, Madrid.
Meanwhile the Female Singer of the Year Award nominees are Louise Alder, Sara Blanch, Vera-Lotte Boecker, Ambur Braid, Saioa Hernández, and Golda Schultz.
The Male Singer of the Year nominees include SeokJong Baek, Lawrence Brownlee, Clay Hilley, John Osborn, Morris Robinson, and Georg Zeppenfeld.
Keren Kagarlitsky, Madison Leonard, Giorgi Manoshvili, Dave Monaco, Patricia Nolz, Lauranne Oliva, Lorenzo Passerini, Sahy Ratia, Ian Rucker, and Chelsea Zurflüh are nominated for the Rising Star prize.
Finally, the Reader’s Choice Nominees are Aigul Akhmetshina, Allan Clayton, Lise Davidsen, Rosa Feola, Lisette Oropesa, Andreas Schager, Jonathan Tetelman, and Michael Volle.
The International Opera Award winners will be announced at the 2026 International Opera Awards ceremony on Nov. 21 taking place for the first time at MusikTheater an der Wien in Vienna. The ceremony will be hosted by Petroc Trelawny and live streamed worldwide for free on OperaVision.
Full list of nominees:
CONDUCTOR
Riccardo Chailly
Marie Jacquot
Václav Luks
Joana Mallwitz
Maxime Pascal
Nathalie Stutzmann
DESIGNER
Jon Bausor
Anisha Fields
Marg Horwell
Ines Nadler
Francis O’Connor
Raimund Orfeo Voigt
DIRECTOR
Vasily Barkhatov
Romeo Castellucci
Lotte de Beer
Netia Jones
Tobias Kratzer
Lydia Steier
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
Cincinnati Opera – Black Opera Project
Fundación Ibáñez Atkinson – Young Artist Programme
Second Movement – Rough for Opera
Opera North – Melodic Memories
Staatsoper Stuttgart – Station Paradiso
Teatro Real – Agrupación Musical Inclusiva
FEMALE SINGER
Louise Alder
Sara Blanch
Vera-Lotte Boecker
Ambur Braid
Saioa Hernández
Golda Schultz
FESTIVAL
Bregenz Festival
Garsington Opera
Monteverdi Festival Cremona
Prototype Festival
Sofia Opera Wagner Festival
Teatro Nuovo
MALE SINGER
SeokJong Baek
Lawrence Brownlee
Clay Hilley
John Osborn
Morris Robinson
Georg Zeppenfeld
MUSICAL THEATRE
La Cage aux Folles (Théâtre du Châtelet)
Killing Carmen (Volksoper Wien)
The Sound of Music (Opera North)
El barberillo de Lavapiés (Theater Basel)
Jesus Christ Superstar (Komische Oper Berlin)
The Light in the Piazza (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis)
NEW PRODUCTION
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Teatro Real/The Royal Ballet and Opera/Maggio Musicale Fiorentino/Deborah Warner)
“Bluthochzeit” (Oper Frankfurt/Àlex Ollé)
“Dead Man Walking” (English National Opera/Annilese Miskimmon)
“Die Fledermaus” (MusikTheater an der Wien/Stefan Herheim)
“Die Frau ohne Schatten” (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence/Barrie Kosky)
“Prince Igor” (Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz/Roland Schwab)
“Rienzi” (Bayreuther Festspiele/Alexandra Szemerédy and Magdolna Parditka)
“Tristan und Isolde” (Metropolitan Opera/Yuval Sharon)
OPERA COMPANY
Atlanta Opera
Croatian National Opera, Zagreb
English National Opera
Hamburgische Staatsoper
Opéra de Lyon
Teatro Real, Madrid
READERS’ AWARD
Sponsored by Sponsored by Opera Magazine with Opera News
Aigul Akhmetshina
Allan Clayton
Lise Davidsen
Rosa Feola
Lisette Oropesa
Andreas Schager
Jonathan Tetelman
Michael Volle
RECORDING (COMPLETE OPERA)
Barber: Vanessa (National Symphony Orchestra, CD)
De Hartmann: Esther (Pentatone, CD)
Dennehy: The First Child (Signum, CD)
Giordano: Marina (Decca, CD)
Handel: Giulio Cesare (Naxos, DVD)
Smetana: The Two Widows (Naxos, CD)
Traetta: Ifigenia in Tauride (Aparté, CD)
Weill: Love Life (Capriccio, CD)
RECORDING (RECITAL)
Katie Bray: In Search of Youkali (Chandos)
Malin Byström: German Opera Scenes and Arias (BIS)
Véronique Gens: Les Divas d’Offenbach (Alpha Classics)
Erin Morley and Lawrence Brownlee: Golden Age (Pentatone)
Jakub Józef Orliński: If music … (Erato/Warner Classics)
Sondra Radvanovsky: Puccini Heroines (Pentatone)
REDISCOVERED WORK
Bembo: Ercole amante (Opéra de Paris)
Cavalli: Pompeo Magno (Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival)
Cesti: Il pomo d’oro (Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik)
De Grandval: Mazeppa (Oper Dortmund)
Noskowski: Wyrok (Teatr Wielki, Pozńan)
Ostrčil: Legenda z Erinu (National Theatre, Prague)
Villa-Lobos: Yerma (Ópera de Tenerife)
Weingartner: Kain und Abel (Staatstheater Darmstadt)
RISING STAR
Keren Kagarlitsky (conductor)
Madison Leonard (soprano)
Giorgi Manoshvili (bass)
Dave Monaco (tenor)
Patricia Nolz (mezzo-soprano)
Lauranne Oliva (soprano)
Lorenzo Passerini (conductor)
Sahy Ratia (tenor)
Ian Rucker (baritone)
Chelsea Zurflüh (soprano)
SUSTAINABILITY
Collectif 17h25 – MOD 200
Glyndebourne – Wildlife Corridor
La Monnaie – Green Opera
Longborough Festival Opera
Project Butterfly – Modena/Helsinki/Gdańsk
Santa Fe Opera
WORLD PREMIERE
Bell/Steier: Medusa (La Monnaie/De Munt)
Coll/Rigola: Enemigo del pueblo (Palau de les Arts/Teatro Real)
Dean/Betts: Of One Blood (Bayerische Staatsoper)
Mazzoli/Vavrek: The Galloping Cure (Scottish Opera/Opera Ventures Productions/Edinburgh International Festival)
Mernier/Fort: Bartleby (Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège)
Palmer/Purcell: The Drover’s Wife (Opera Australia/Queensland Performing Arts Centre/Oombarra Productions)
Ruo/Hwang: The Monkey King (San Francisco Opera)
Sciarrino/Turroni: L’Agamennone (Bühnen Bern)
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