Ten Singers Advance to Final Round of 2023 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition

Following this week's semifinal competition, ten singers have advanced to the final round of the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. The finalists will compete on the Met stage on Sunday, April 23, at 3PM ET, hosted by Latonia Moore, the 2000 Grand Finals-winning soprano and star of the Met's new production of Terence Blanchard's Champion.

Chosen by a panel of opera administrators from the Met and other companies, each finalist will perform two arias accompanied by the Met Orchestra, conducted by Michele Gamba. The winners will receive individual cash prizes of $20,000, while the non-winning finalists will each receive $10,000. The event will also include a special performance from Moore.

The Laffont Grand Finals Concert is open to the public. It will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM channel 355 and streamed live on the Met's website at metopera.org/livestream. Tickets 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 2023 finalists, the regions they represent in the competition, and their hometowns are:

Eleomar Cuello, 28, baritone (Southeast Region; Havana, Cuba)

Yuntong Han, 28, tenor (Central Region; Shenyang, China)

Anthony León, 26, tenor (Western Region; Riverside, California)

Natalie Lewis, 24, mezzo-soprano (Eastern Region; Severna Park, Maryland)

Teresa Perrotta, 27, soprano (Great Lakes Region; Orlando, Florida)

Sahel Salam, 29, tenor (Central Region; Houston, Texas)

Sarah Saturnino, 29, mezzo-soprano (Western Region; Grass Valley, California)

Christian Simmons, 28, bass-baritone (Rocky Mountain Region; Washington, D.C.)

Meredith Wohlgemuth, 27, soprano (Eastern Region; Winter Haven, Florida)

David Wolfe, 24, baritone (Upper Midwest Region; Shamokin, Pennsylvania)

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 more than 1,200 applicants, with more than 900 singers qualifying to participate in 36 districts. Of the 137 singers in the regional rounds, 20 were named semifinalists.

The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition is operated at the District and Region level by hundreds of dedicated volunteers and donors from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. More than $300,000 in prize money has already been awarded in the district and regional rounds.

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