Semi-Finalists Announced at the Metropolitan Opera's Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition for 2024

19 young singers will compete for a grand prize of $20,000 and a range of other perks

Nineteen young singers have been selected to proceed to the semi-final round of the 2024 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, which is run by the Metropolitan Opera. The semi-finalists are all aged between 23 and 30, and hail from the United States, Armenia, Australia, China, and Georgia. They were chosen from a pool of more than 1,500 applicants, having progressed through the district and regional rounds.

All semi-finalists will receive a cash prize of $5,000 (which is double the amount that was available in the previous edition of the competition). In addition, those who progress to the finals will undertake a week of training with musical and dramatic coaches from the Met.

The winners of the competition will receive $20,000 and career-making exposure, while all other finalists will receive a cash prize of $10,000.

The singers who have been selected are as follows:

• Georgiana Adams, soprano
• Nathan Bowles, tenor
• Michael Butler, tenor
• Katherine DeYoung, mezzo-soprano
• Ruby Dibble, mezzo-soprano
• Daniel Espinal, tenor
• Tessa Fackelmann, mezzo-soprano
• Lydia Grindatto, soprano
• Navasard Hakobyan, baritone
• Bethany Jelinek, soprano
• Ani Kushyan, mezzo-soprano
• Qirong Liang, mezzo-soprano
• Tessa McQueen, soprano
• Gemma Nha, soprano
• Meridian Prall, mezzo-Soprano
• Emily Richter, soprano
• Demetrious Sampson, tenor
• Eric Taylor, tenor
• Catherine Thornsley, soprano

Singers who have previously had success in this competition include Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, Eric Owens, Stephanie Blythe, Hei-Kyung Hong, Sondra Radvanovsky, Lawrence Brownlee, Michael Fabiano, Latonia Moore, Lisette Oropesa, Jamie Barton, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green, and Nadine Sierra.