Met Opera Names Winners of 2026 Laffont Competition | Playbill
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Met Opera Names Winners of 2026 Laffont Competition

Selected from 10 finalists, the six winners are each awarded a $20,000 prize.

March 23, 2026 By Natan Zamansky

Laffont Competition Grand Finals Winners Gabriel Natal-Báez, Elizabeth Hanje, Song Hee Lee, Shannon Crowley, Robert Wente, and Anna Thompson. (Natalie Powers / Met Opera)

The Metropolitan Opera has announced the winners of the 2026 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, selected following the Laffont Grand Finals Concert March 22, hosted by 2005 winner Lisette Oropesa, with soprano Tamara Wilson joining as guest artist. Each of the 10 finalists performed two arias, accompanied by the Met Orchestra conducted by Carlo Rizzi, and from the finalists, six winners were selected, who each receive a $20,000 prize.

The six winners are Shannon Crowley, soprano from Virginia Beach, Virginia; Elizabeth Hanje, soprano from Vestavia Hills, Alabama; Song Hee Lee, soprano from Seoul, South Korea; Gabriel Natal-Báez, baritone from Toa Alta, Puerto Rico; Anna Thompson, soprano from Rochester, Michigan; and Robert Wente, baritone from Munster, Indiana.

The four remaining finalists, each receiving a $10,000 prize, are Sophia Baete, mezzo-soprano from Louisville, Kentucky; Gabrielle Turgeon, soprano from Boynton Beach, Florida; Dejah Watts, soprano from Indianapolis, Indiana; and Shiyu Zhuo, soprano from Zhejiang, China.

The finalists and winners were selected over the course of a series of competitions from a pool of over 1,700 applicants, and more than 900 qualifying singers. This season saw the most participants in the competition's history.

Formerly known as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition is considered a prestigious award for early-career opera singers. Previous winners have included Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, Eric Owens, Stephanie Blythe, Nadine Sierra, Lawrence Brownlee, Ryan Speedo Green, and Lisette Oropesa, the latter two of whom are currently appearing at the Met in Tristan und Isolde and La Traviata, respectively.

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