Metropolitan Opera Announces 20 Semifinalists for the 2025 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

Semifinalists from the U.S., Canada, Georgia, and the Philippines to compete on March 9, 2025, at 11AM ET

Selected finalists to perform at the Grand Finals Concert on March 16, 2025, accompanied by the Met Orchestra, conducted by Karen Kamensek,

featuring Laffont alumnae Jamie Barton and Janai Brugger

Winners will receive individual cash prizes of $20,000, as well as mentorship and networking opportunities in the opera world

New York, NY (February 11, 2025)—The 20 semifinalists, who have moved past regional auditions across the United States, will compete in the semifinal round of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition on Sunday, March 9, 2025, beginning at 11AM ET. The semifinal competition will be held on the Met stage before a panel of judges and will also be available for public viewing via livestream. The selected finalists will then move forward to the Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, March 16, at 3PM ET.

The semifinalists, ranging in age from 24 to 30, were selected from an applicant pool of nearly 1,500 aspiring opera singers. The finalists who advance are provided with a week of training with Met musical and dramatic coaches.

During the Grand Finals Concert on March 16, finalists will each sing two arias on the Met stage, with Maestro Karen Kamensek leading the Met Orchestra. Kamensek will also be in the middle of conducting the run of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick, March 3–29. The afternoon’s host will be Laffont alumna and star mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, with soprano Janai Brugger, a 2012 winner, joining as a guest artist. The winners of the competition will each receive a cash prize of $20,000 and career-making exposure. The remaining finalists will receive $10,000. The semifinalist prize is $5,000. Results will be posted on Facebook and Instagram.

Auditions are sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, including the Laffont Competition donors and hundreds of volunteers from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. More than $300,000 in prize money has already been fundraised and awarded in the district and regional rounds.

The Laffont Competition is open to singers from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as other international entrants training or residing in those countries. This season, the competition had nearly 1,500 applicants, with more than 900 singers qualifying to participate in 12 regions and 37 districts. This season, the competition added the Mid-Atlantic region, encompassing Maryland, Philadelphia, and the Capital districts.

The Eric and Dominique Laffont Grand Finals Concert will be open to the public, and audio will be streamed live on the Met’s website. Tickets for the concert are on sale now and may be purchased at the Met box office, by phone at 212.362.6000, or online at metopera.org. 

The 2025 Semifinalists

About the Competition
The Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, formerly known since its founding in 1954 as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, is now in its 71st season. The Met’s vocal competition is a career-making opportunity for aspiring opera singers, given the reach of the auditions, the number of applicants, and the program’s long tradition. The Competition has also been crucial in introducing many of today’s best-known opera stars, including 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.

The competition gained international acclaim with the release of the 2008 feature-length documentary The Audition, directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, which chronicled the 2007 National Council Auditions season and Grand Finals Concert.