Mezzo-soprano Sadie Cheslak is the 2025 Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition winner.

Chelsak will receive a $15,000 grant following performances of “Weiche, Wotan! Weiche!” from Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” and “My husband was an ugly man” from “The Listeners.”

“The Jensen Foundation’s commitment to supporting artists they believe in means everything to me. It’s a vote of confidence in who I am as an artist. It felt incredible to receive first prize, and I can’t begin to describe the ways this generous prize is going to open doors for me. I’m overwhelmingly grateful,” Cheslak, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate and 2025 Merola Opera Program Young Artist, said per an official press release.

Other grant winners include soprano Abigail Raiford (Second Place grant winner – $10,000); soprano Esther Tonea (Third Place grant winner – $7, 500); mezzo-soprano Winona Martin and soprano Virginia Mims (co-winners of the Munday Encouragement Grant – $3,000 each); and soprano Maggie Kinabrew, winner of the $10,000 Facing Foward grant for the best performance of a 21st-century aria.

Additionally, the other finalists in the competition received a $750 grant award.

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