Schmidt Vocal Arts (SVA) has announced the winners of its 2025-26 Illinois Regional Competition. The final was held at Northwestern University in Evanston on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025.

First Place was awarded to Casey Schopflocher of New York, NY, while Second Place went to Cooper Bott of Marengo, IA, and Third Place to Vivian Furtaw of Alpena, MI. The top three prizewinners received cash awards of $2,500, $2,000, and $1,500 respectively and are now eligible to apply for college scholarships from Schmidt Vocal Arts, which awards more than $500,000 annually to support higher education for young singers.

Additional prize recipients included Darragh Hallinan (Darien, CT) and James Pumphrey (Minneapolis, MN) for the Encouragement Award; Ananya Sathyanarayanan (Naperville, IL) for the Broadway Bound Award; and Alexandra Galyavina (Winnetka, IL) for Most Promising Sophomore.

“What an inspiring start to our 2025–26 season! We were thrilled to spend the day hearing so many talented singers at Northwestern University’s beautiful Bienen School of Music and can’t wait to welcome the top three winners to perform on the stage of the William E. Schmidt Opera Theatre at Sarasota Opera next May,” said SVA Executive Director Linda McAlister, per an official press release.

Ten finalists were selected for the final round by a jury comprising mezzo-soprano Karen Brunssen, tenor Stanford Olsen, and vocal coach Casey Robards. Each finalist received $250 for advancing. Three finalists participated in a master class with the judges prior to the final round. Additional awards of $100 were presented in the categories Encouragement, Most Promising Sophomore, and Broadway Bound.

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