Turkish mezzo Ezgi Karakaya is the winner of the ninth annual Leyla Gencer Voice Competition. She also took home the audience award.

The second place winner was German-Italian mezzo Anna Doris Capitelli with Polish tenor Piotr Buszewski coming in third place. Karakaya walks away with a 12,500 euro prize while Doris gets 7,500 euros and Buszewski wins 3,500 euros.

It was a big night in general for Turkish singers as baritone Faik Mansuroğlu won the Royal Opera House Jette Parker Young Artists Programme Special Award, earning the opportunity to train in London for four months. Turkish bass-baritone Doğukan Özkan was given the newly created Deutsche Oper Berlin Special Award, allowing him the opportunity to take part in one of the company’s productions. Mezzo Ezgi Karakaya, also Turkish, won the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra Special Award and will get the chance to perform in the company of Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra. The Accademia Teatro alla Scala Special Award went to Buszewski and he will receive a three-month scholarship at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala.

It’s been a pretty great year for mezzos on the competition circuit, with the Met Opera National Council Auditions featuring only mezzo sopranos among the female voices in its final round. Notice that among the mentioned winners of the Leyla Gencer Voice Competition Awards, not one of them was a soprano. Gencer, of course, was a legendary soprano.