Plácido Domingo's Operalia 2016: Final Round

Founded in 1993 by Plácido Domingo, Operalia is an international singing competition presenting the most promising talents and personalities in the operatic world. Previous winners of now-established artists include Sonya Yoncheva, Ludovic Tezier, Rolando Villazón, Stéphane Degout, Inva Mula, Nina Stemme, José Cura, John Osborn, Susanna Philips, among others. Every year, the competition sets in a different opera house. Following Paris, Mexico, Madrid, Tokyo, Milan, Moscow, Beijing, Verona and Los Angeles, London, Operalia is hosted by the Teatro Degollado in Guadalajara, Mexico! And for the seventh year in a row, medici.tv partners with Operalia to broadcast live the final round of the competition.

Operalia's goal is clear: present the greatest young talents and help them in their professional career. In Plácido Domingo's own words : "Talent alone is not enough; it is also essential for young singers to come to the attention of those impresarios, managers, casting directors, conductors and stage directors who can further their professional careers. My purpose in Operalia is to help identify not only the best voices, but also to discover those singers whose personalities, characters and powers of interpretation show that they have the potential to become complete artists. Individuals such as these become tomorrow's stars. This is why the jury is not exclusively made up of great singers but also includes general managers, stage directors and casting directors."

WINNERS OF THE 2016 EDITION

First Prizes:

- Elsa Dreisig, soprano
- Keon-Woo Kim, tenor 

Second Prizes:

- Marina Costa-Jackson, soprano
- Bogdan Volkov, tenor

Third Prizes: 

- Olga Kulchynska, soprano
- Rame Lahaj, tenor

Audience Prizes:

- Elena Stikhina, soprano
- Keonwoo Kim, tenor

Zarzuela Prizes: 

- Juan Carlos Heredia, baritone
- Nicholas Brownlee, bass-baritone
- Marina Costa-Jackson, soprano

Birgit Nilsson Prize: 

- Brenton Ryan, tenor
 

The Culturarte Prize: 

- Elena Stikhina, soprano
 

Photo: © Marco Ayala