Metropolitan Opera Announces 20 Semifinalists for the 2023 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

By Afton Wooten

The Metropolitan Opera has announced the 20 singers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico regions to compete in the semifinal round of the Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition on April 17 at 10 am ET.

Finalist include sopranos Yihan Duan (Midwest: Anhui, China), Midori Marsh (Upper Midwest: Cleveland, OH), Teresa Perrotta (Great Lakes: Orlando, FL), Meredith Wohlgemuth (Eastern: Winter Haven, FL), and Lucila Zavala (Gulf Coast: Tao Baja, Puetro Rico); mezzo-sopranos Simona Genga (Great Lakes: Toronto, Canada), Natalie Lewis (Eastern: Severan Park, MD), Sarah Saturino (Western: Grass Valley, CA), Hannah Shea (Rocky Mountain: Harrisburg, PA), and Camille Sherman (Northwest: Petaluma, CA); countertenor Chuanyuan Liu (Eastern: Changchun, China); tenors Yuntong Han (Central: Shnyang, China), Anothy León (Western: Riverside, CA), Sahel Salam (Central: Houston, TX), and Jospeh Tancredi (Gulf Coast: Bayville, NY); baritones Elomar Cuello (Southeast: Havana, Cuba), Hyungjin Son (New England: Seoul, South Korea), David Wolfe (Upper Midwest: Shamokin, PA); and bass-baritones Vartan Gabrielian (Northwest: Toronot, Canada), and Christian Simmons (Rocky Mountain: Washington, DC).

The semifinal competition will take place on the Met stage before a panel of judges who will determine the finalists who will advance to the Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, April 23, at 3 pm ET. The competition will be live-streamed. Pianists for the semifinal round are Lachlan Glen and Bénédicte Jourdois, both alumni of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

The finalists who advance to the Grand Finals will have a week of training with Met musical and dramatic coaches. At the Grand Finals Concert on April 23, each finalist will sing two arias on the Met stage, with conductor Michele Gamba leading the Met Orchestra. The evening will also include a special performance from the host and 2000 Grand Finals winner soprano Latonia Moore. Following the performance, the winners will be announced, each of whom will receive a cash prize of $20,000 and career-making exposure.

The Laffont Grand Finals Concert will be open to the public and broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM channel 355 and streamed live on the Met’s website.

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