Opera Index has announced the winners of its 2026 Vocal Competition, awarding $100,000 in grants to emerging opera singers.

Five singers received $10,000 awards: mezzo-soprano Hannah Jones (the Jessie Walker Memorial Award), tenor Angel Gomez (the Lois Kirshenbaum Memorial Award), countertenor Jake Ingbar (the Maude Davis Memorial Award), tenor Matthew Sink (the Opera Index Membership Award) and baritone Dominic Townsend (the Opera Index Legacy Award).

Soprano Alison Kessler won the $5,000 Albert Sherman Memorial Award, and bass Ryan Wornall won the $5,000 Gasperec/Shaulis Memorial Award. Tenor Zhongjiancheng Deng received the $4,000 Murray Rosenthal/Philip Hagemann Award.

Six singers received $3,000 awards: tenor Nathan Romportl (the Alley/Dietrich Family Memorial Award), bass-baritone Yunsik Kim (the Cesare Santeramo Award), bass Woosik Nam (the Sachi Liebergesell Award), baritone Gregory Feldmann (the Sung Shin Award), baritone Jacob Hanes (the Kozlowski/Stovin Memorial Award) and mezzo-soprano Theo Claveles (the Opera Index Patron Award).

Baritone Yilin Chen received the $2,500 Judges Award. Tenor Michael McDermott and mezzo-soprano Sophia Pelekasis received $2,000 Emerging Artists Awards.

Eight singers received $1,000 Encouragement Awards: Kimberly Alexandra Adam, Meg Brilleslyper, Grace Christensen, Ruijia Dong, Eve Nikolaidis, Jeysla Rosnio Santos, Adriana Stepien and Zirlo Li. Five finalists received $500 honorariums: Wonjin Choi, Christina Grohowski, Tivoli Treloar, Yihe Wang and Kyle White.The winners will be recognized and perform at the Opera Index Annual Gala on Feb. 1, 2027, where past award winner Anthony Roth Costanzo will be honored.

“We are impressed by the vocal ability and preparation demonstrated by this year’s singers. Distributing these awards allows us to offer substantial financial assistance that helps these artists advance their careers,” Jane Shaulis, president of Opera Index, said, per an official press release,