2024 Competition
COMPETITION
Semi-Finals: April 10 at 3 pm
Finals: April 11 at 3 pm
AWARDS CONCERT
April 12 at 7 pm
Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center
2024 RESULTS
It was impossibly difficult, but the Judges have chosen our 2024 Top Prize Winners. The remaining singers also receive cash Encouragement Awards as part of our mission to support young artists as they rise in their careers.
(Please scroll down to read entire bios of the Singers as well as the Jury.)
1st Prize - $10,000
Alexandra Razskazoff, soprano
provided by The Kleinschmidt Family Foundation
2nd Prize - $5,000
Tatev Baroyan, soprano
provided by The Kleinschmidt Family Foundation
3rd Prize - $3,000
Daniel Espinal, tenor
provided by The Kleinschmidt Family Foundation
$1,000 Encouragement Awards
Midori Marsh, Soprano
Louis L. Lawson Legacy Fund
Emily Richter, Soprano
In Memory of Sofia Blanchard
Demetrious Sampson, Jr., Tenor
In Memory of Sofia Blanchard
Chuanyuan Liu, Countertenor
The Sergio Franchi Music Foundation
Simona Genga, Mezzo-soprano
Tommy and Simonetta Steyer
Gabrielle Beteag, Mezzo-soprano
In Memory of Sofia Blanchard
Katherine DeYoung, Mezzo-soprano
Windsor Foundation
Qirong Liang, Mezzo-soprano
In Memory of Henri Lemoine who reached for the stars!
Semi-Finals
Hear them sing!
Finals
RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS for 11 Rising Stars!
DETAILS
We invite the world’s top young rising opera
singers to compete for major cash prizes,
and we cast many of them in our operas
and concerts.
Come to some, or all of it!
There are Two Competition Rounds:
Semi-Finals: April 10 at 3 pm
Finals: April 11 at 3 pm
A two-day pass to these two competition rounds is only $20!
The Judges make their decisions the evening of April 11, and they keep it a secret until the Awards Concert on April 12!
The Awards Concert is April 12 at 7 pm
with Master of Ceremonies Ian Campbell. All of the competitors sing a full concert for our Vero Beach Opera audience. The winners and encouragement awards are announced at the very end!
First Prize is $10,000, Second Prize is $5,000 and Third Prize is $3,000. These are provided by The Kleinschmidt Family Foundation.
The remaining Singers all receive Cash Encouragement Awards which are provided by The Sergio Franchi Music Foundation, the Louis L. Lawson Legacy Fund, In Memory of Sofia Blanchard, Tommy and Simonetta Steyer, In Memory of Henri Lemoine, and the Windsor Foundation.
The Singers!
Scroll further down to read full bios.
Tatev Baroyan, Soprano
Gabrielle Beteag, Mezzo-soprano
Katherine DeYoung, Mezzo-soprano
Daniel Espinal, Tenor
Simona Genga, Mezzo-soprano
Qirong Liang, Mezzo-soprano
Chuanyuan Liu, Countertenor
Midori Marsh, Soprano
Alexandra Razskazoff, Soprano
Emily Richter, Soprano
Demetrious Sampson, Jr., Tenor
featuring
Anna Fateeva, Piano
Ian Campbell, Awards Concert Master of Ceremonies
The Jury.
Scroll further down to read full bios.
Román Ortega-Cowan,
President of the Jury; Artistic Advisor, Vero Beach Opera
Gregory Buchalter,
Music Director, Vero Beach Opera; Metropolitan Opera Assistant Conductor; Music Director and Conductor, Varna International
Susan Neves,
Metropolitan Opera Singer
Randall Romig,
Chairman, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, SE Region
Tatev Baroyan
Soprano
Tatev Baroyan is an accomplished Armenian American soprano with a background rooted in music from a young age. Within the 2022/23 season, she received the second prize in the Southeast Region of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the first prize in the Florida District competitions, and was a finalist and recipient of the Hope for the Future of Opera Award in the Batumian Rhapsody Opera's Golden Voice International Competition. Additionally, she has been awarded by organizations like the Metropolitan Opera National Council South Carolina District, Georgia District, and won the third prize in the Premiere Opera Foundation International Vocal Competition. She was born in Yerevan, Armenia, and her musical journey began at the Yerevan Specialized Music School named after P.I. Tchaikovsky, where she majored in piano. Later on, she pursued her passion for singing and enrolled in the Komitas State Conservatory, focusing on Vocal Performance under the tutelage of Hasmik Hatsagortsyan. Throughout her career, Tatev Baroyan has participated in various training programs and apprenticeships to hone her skills and gain professional experience. She was part of the Sarasota Opera's Apprenticeship program and Teatro Nuovo's Studio Artist program. During her time with Sarasota Opera, she made her professional debut performing the role of Papagena in Mozart's "The Magic Flute." The 2022/23 season marked several significant highlights for Baroyan. She had her role and house debut at the Salzburger Landestheater, portraying the title role of Iolanta. This production was a unique combination of Tchaikovsky's two works: "Iolant" and "The Nutcracker," crafted into a fantasy setting directed by Thomas Mika, under the baton of Leslie Suganandarajah. Additionally, she returned to the New York City Opera to share the stage with Charles Castronovo and Ekaterina Siurina, making her role debut as Annina while covering the role of Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata," directed by Michael Capasso and conducted by Constantine Orbelian. She also performed the role of Berta in Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," directed by Helena Binder. Prior to these engagements, Tatev Baroyan participated in the world premiere production of "The Garden of the Finzi-Contini" by Ricky Ian Gordon and libretto by Michael Korie with the New York City Opera, covering the title role of Micòl Finzi-Contini. Baroyan's recent appearances showcased her versatility and talent, encompassing roles such as Alaide in Bellini's "La Straniera," Anna in Rossini's "Maometto II," Berta in Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," and performances in Rossini's Stabat Mater in concert with Teatro Nuovo. Her repertoire also includes roles like Zerlina in Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Musetta in Puccini's "La Bohème," Liu in Puccini's "Turandot," Anoush in A. Tigranyan's "Anoush," and Micaëla in Bizet's "Carmen."
Gabrielle Beteag
Mezzo-soprano
Vero Beach Opera audiences know American mezzo Gabrielle Beteag from our 2024 Best of Broadway & Opera concert. An accomplished competitive singer, Beteag was named a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (now the Laffont Competition) in 2020. Other industry accolades include prizes from Operalia (Semifinalist, 2023), the Cooper-Bing Competition at Opera Columbus (First Place, 2023), the Shreveport Opera Mary Jacobs Singer of the Year Competition (Second Place, 2020), the Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition (Finalist, 2019), and the Kristin Lewis Vocal Scholarship Competition (Grand Prize, 2018). She brings a fresh joy and commanding warmth to repertoire
spanning baroque to contemporary works. Praised for her “precise, soaring voice” by San
Francisco Classical Voice, Beteag’s recent performance in the San Francisco Adler Fellow
Showcase was “a peak performance at the opera…a moment of transfiguration.”
Endlessly inspired by the challenges inherent in developing new works, Beteag counts her role
creation of Iras in John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra during SFO’s Centennial Season as a
career highlight. Other recent performances at SFO include Teacher in The (R)evolution of
Steve Jobs, Stimme von oben in Die Frau ohne Schatten, and an Image of Frida Kahlo in El
último sueño de Frida y Diego, the new opera by Gabriela Lena Frank and the Pulitzer
Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Beteag was also seen as Mercédès in Carmen at The
Atlanta Opera, where she was a Studio Player, Woman with Hat/Duchess in The Ghosts of
Versailles at Chautauqua Opera, and Lady Billows in Albert Herring during her graduate studies
at Georgia State University. While offstage, Ms. Beteag enjoys watching movies with her husband, Tim, and receiving the
best vocal coaching available from their hound dog, Hambo.
Katherine DeYoung
Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Katherine DeYoung, originally from Traverse City, Michigan, is a recent graduate of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In the 2022/23 Season at Lyric, she sang Giovanna in Ernani, and Mercédès in Carmen. She also stepped in as Sibyl for the World Premiere of Proximity. She covered Ragonde in Le Comte Ory, and Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel. In February, Katherine stepped in with 24-hour notice as Ragonde in Le Comte Ory at Opera Southwest. In April 2022, she was the Mezzo-Soprano Soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Michigan State University. In the 2021/22 Season at Lyric, she performed as the Second Lady in The Magic Flute, sang in the Rising Stars Concert, and The Magic Victrola. Katherine is a 2019 Sullivan Award Winner from The William Matheus Sullivan Foundation, a 2021 Richard F. Gold Career Grant recipient from the Shoshana Foundation, the 2022 Eileen Deneen Scholarship Award Winner from The American Opera Society of Chicago and was a 2020 Semi-Finalist for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. She was a member of the Detroit Opera Studio program from 2018-2020. In the 2018/2019 Season with Detroit Opera, Katherine performed Der Sandmann in Hänsel und Gretel, the Old Lady in Candide, The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, covered Olga in Eugene Onegin, performed Mae and covered Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. In the Summers of 2018 and 2019, she was a member of the Apprentice Singer Program with the Santa Fe Opera where she covered the role of The Mayor’s Wife in Jenůfa and performed the Act One Duet from La Favorita and the Act One Finale as Ma Joad from The Grapes of Wrath for the Apprentice Scenes programs. Katherine holds a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from the University of Houston where she performed Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri, Fidalma in The Secret Marriage, Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, Princess Clarice in The Love for Three Oranges, and Lady Sneerwell in the World Premiere of The School for Scandal. Other roles performed include the title role in Carmen with Opera in the Ozarks. While in Houston, Katherine appeared with the Texas Medical Center Orchestra for their “A Night at the Opera” Concert and was the Alto Soloist for Chapelwood United Methodist’s “Messiah Selections”. Katherine was a Finalist and The Online Viewers’ Choice Award Winner in the Houston Grand Opera 31st Eleanor McCollum Competition. Katherine is an alumna of Michigan State University.
Daniel Espinal
Tenor
Daniel Espinal is currently in his final year of his graduate degree at Yale University, having previously received a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan School of Music. He is a Grand Finals Winner of the 2024 MET Opera Laffont Competition. He was also a young artist in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program during 2022–23 season. Most recently, he appeared as Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress at Yale Opera, and in the coming season, he will join the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago as an apprentice artist. He would like to thank his family for their constant love and support of his dreams, as well as his teacher, Gerald Martin Moore, to whom he is forever grateful.
Simona Genga
Mezzo-soprano
Italian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Simona Genga was a 22/23 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition National Semi-Finalist after winning both the Great Lakes Region and Buffalo-Toronto District rounds. She possesses an "exceptional and rare voice" known for its "vocal plushness, amplitude and range" (Ludwig van Toronto/Opera Canada). The 23/24 season sees Simona make debuts on the concert stage with the Victoria Symphony (Handel’s Messiah) and Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeurs des Mélomanes (Beethoven’s Ninth), as well as a return to the Canadian Opera Company for a cover assignment in Cherubini’s Medea. The season also included her debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) and joining San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Opera Program, appearing as Bianca in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and in recital for Metamorphosis: Recovery, Renewal, and Rebirth. Other recent engagements include the title role in Carmen for Saskatoon Opera, the premiere of Ian Cusson’s Fantasma with the Canadian Opera Company, Handel’s Messiah with the Peterborough Singers, Olga in Eugene Onegin for Highlands Opera Studio, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Brott Music Festival. “Showing a vocal and theatrical maturity that belies her age” (The Edmonton Journal), Simona first experienced the deep impact of opera while singing Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking with the Opera NUOVA in 2015. She subsequently joined Canadian Opera Company’s prestigious Ensemble Studio after winning both First Prize and Audience Choice Awards at their 2017 Centre Stage Competition. While with the Ensemble Studio, she sang Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia under the baton of Speranza Scappucci, and Gertrude in the Opera for Young Audiences performances of Hansel and Gretel. She has been recognized as one of CBC’s “30 hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30” and received career grants from the Hnatyshyn Foundation, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, and multiple Ruby Mercer Awards. She won third prize in the 2019 Christina and Louis Quilico Competition, as well as the 2018 Barbara and Stanley Richman Award for demonstrating "exceptional potential for a significant career" at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.
Qirong Liang
Mezzo-soprano
Hailing from China, mezzo-soprano Qirong Liang has captivated audiences with her dynamic performances, swiftly emerging as a formidable talent with an impressive array of accomplishments in her young career. Recent highlights include her portrayal of Public Opinion in "Orphée aux enfers" and Charlotte in "Werther" at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, as well as Prince Orlofsky in "Die Fledermaus" in China. Ms. Liang is a national semifinalist of the Metropolitan Laffont Competition in 2024 and has garnered prominent awards in China, including first prize in the Golden Peacock Voice Competition. She participated in the Aspen Music Festival and School as a studio artist in 2023 and is completing her Master of Music at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor under the tutelage of Freda Herseth. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music.
Chuanyuan Liu
Countertenor
A two-time National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Chuanyuan has won awards from Opera Index, Camille Coloratura Awards, Pasadena Vocal Competition, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, amongst others. Praised for his "otherworldly flourish" (The Wall Street Journal) and "intense stage presence" (Classical Voice North America), countertenor Chuanyuan Liu is proving himself a strong presence amidst the new generation of countertenors. His deep passion for storytelling inspires him to connect with his audience through empathy, authenticity, and creativity. Chuanyuan began his 2023-24 season performing the title role in White Snakes Projects' world premiere of Monkey by Jorge Sosa and Cerise Jacobs, followed by his appearances with Boston Text and Tone Festival and Gigli International Opera’s Gala concert. In 2024, he makes his Carnegie Hall debut as a participant in Renée Fleming’s SongStudio and performs as the countertenor soloist in Lenoard Bernstein’s The Lark with New York Choral Society. He also makes his San Diego debut with Opera Neo as Aci in the American premiere of Polifemo by Nicola Porpora. In recent seasons, Chuanyuan’s professional credits include Polinesso in Ariodante and The Priest/The Medium in In A Grove at Pittsburgh Opera, Man Under the Arch/Hotel Clerk in The Hours (concert version) at The Philadelphia Orchestra, César in Bel Canto at Aspen Opera Theater, and Amore in Orpheus and Erica: a Deaf Opera at Victory Hall Opera. Chuanyuan covered the leading role of Song Liling in M. Butterfly at Santa Fe Opera in 2022. He holds degrees from University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Bard College Conservatory of Music and University of Virginia.
Midori Marsh
Soprano
Midori Marsh is an American-Canadian soprano, hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. She took first prize at the 2023 Quilico awards, was a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2023 Laffont Competition and a 2023 Lotte Lenya finalist. Recently she took home both first prize and audience choice award at the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition. She received her Bachelors of Music at Wilfrid Laurier in 2017 and her Masters of Music in Opera at the University of Toronto in 2020. In fall 2019 she took home both first prize and audience choice award at the Canadian Opera Company’s Centre Stage competition and recently completed her third year with the COC’s young artist ensemble. While at the COC she was seen as Nella in Gianni Schicchi, the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Annina in La Traviata, Papagena in Die Zauberflote and Frasquita in Carmen. A “polished and poised performer”, with “a truly gorgeous, expressive sound” she is a known quantity in the Canadian Opera scene, performing with Tapestry Opera, Against the Grain Theatre, the TSO, the National Arts Centre and more. In 2020 she was named one of the CBC’s “30 hot Classical Musicians under 30” and in 2022 she was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her portrayal of Papagena in the COC’s 2022 production of The Magic Flute. Upcoming performances include appearances with Tapestry, Soundstreams, Guelph Symphony Orchestra, TSO, London Symphonia and more.
Alexandra Razskazoff
Soprano
Soprano Alexandra Razskazoff was named a Grand Finals Winner in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. She is acclaimed by The New York Times as a “richly faceted, slinky soprano,” whose “soprano [is] rich, distinctive of timbre, and penetrating, and possess[es] a lovely bloom on top” (Opera News). In the 2022-23 season, Alexandra made her house debut with The Atlanta Opera reprising Wellgunde (Das Rheingold) and returned to Teatro Municipal de Santiago to make her role debut as Micaëla (Carmen). Alexandra also appeared in a series of concerts with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Maryland Opera, Washington Opera Society, Vero Beach Opera and Panama City Symphony. She reengaged with Palm Beach Opera for their 2023 season to cover Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Alice Ford (Falstaff). Alexandra made some notable house debuts in spring and summer of 2022, including Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Bozeman Symphony and Mimì (La bohème) at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile. She performed Violetta (La Traviata) with Out of the Box Opera, as well as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with Teatro Grattacielo at the Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice. Earlier in 2021-2022, Alexandra made her debut as Suzel in Teatro Grattacielo's production of Mascagni's L'Amico Fritz. She covered both Micaëla (Carmen) and Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow), as well as sang Giannetta (L'elisir d'amore) at Palm Beach Opera. She also appeared with Maryland Opera in their summer outdoor concert series. Aside from her notable placement in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Alexandra has garnered much acclaim in the realm of vocal competitions. She participated in the prestigious Operalia vocal competition in October 2021 in Moscow where she advanced to be a Semifinalist. Alexandra was named the 1st Place winner of the 2021 James Toland Vocal Arts. Inc. Competition, the First Prize in the Giovanni Consiglio International Competition, as well as 3rd Place in the PARTNERS for the Arts Competition, the Orpheus Vocal Competition, the Premiere Opera Foundation + NYIOP International Vocal Competition, and in National Opera Association’s C. Bailey and D. Argento Vocal Competition.
Emily Richter
Soprano
Emily Richter is a lyric soprano based out of Pittsburgh, PA. She is a 2024 MET Opera Laffont Grand Finals Winner. She is a 3-time Met Laffront District Winner. She additionally was named a 2023 Great Lakes Region 2nd Place Winner and was awarded an Encouragement Award at the 2022 MONC Minnesota District. Emily was the 2021 Wirth Prize Winner at McGill and was awarded $25,000 for an exemplary 30-minute program or song and opera repertoire. She was a first-place winner of the NOA Opera Scenes Competition for her performance as Nedda in I Pagliacci. She was the 1st place winner of the Mildred Miller Competition.
Having benefited from growing up all over the world from Zimbabwe to Armenia and living in musical centers such as London and Tokyo, Emily truly has a global perspective on what it means to be an artist.
She is thrilled to be returning to Pittsburgh Opera's Resident Artist Program for the 2023/2024 Season, performing the role of Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Iphigénie in Iphegénie en Tauride, and Ma in Missy Mazzoli's contemporary opera Proving Up as well as covering the role of Violetta in La Traviata. This past summer, she was an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera where she covered the role of Desdemona in Rossini's Otello. She has been selected to be a member of the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the 2024/2025 season. As a 1st place winner of the Mildred Miller Competition, she will be giving a recital in Pittsburgh as part of Pittsburgh Festival Opera's Legends in the Making Recital series. She will be making her Seattle Symphony debut as the Soprano Soloist in Messiah as well as her Verdi's Requiem Debut with Westmoreland Symphony.
Demetrious Sampson, Jr.
Tenor
Demetrious Sampson, Jr. is a rising tenor from Albany, GA, and a graduate of the Georgia State University School of Music. He is a top ten Finalist in the 2024 MET Opera Laffont Competition. While attaining his Bachelor of Music under the instruction of Kathryn Hartgrove, he performed many roles with the Georgia State Opera Theater, most memorably, Captain Vanderdender in Candide and the titular role in John Musto's Bastianello. At just 20 years old he was honored to make his professional debut with the Atlanta Opera in their 2019 production of Porgy and Bess as the show stealing Crab Man. His reprisal of said role at Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist in the Summer of 2022, was received as a “delight” by the New York Times. In the Spring of 2023, he made his Kennedy Center debut with the Washington Chorus as the tenor in Undine Smith Moore's 16-part oratorio Scenes from the Life of a Martyr. That Summer Demetrious joined the prestigious Merola Program in a cohort of some of the most promising singers of our time. Performance Highlights include portraying Nemorino in a scene from Donizetti's hilarious yet heartfelt L'eslisir d'amore, a well-reviewed performance in the program's Metamorphosis Song Recital and scenes from both La Boheme and Fellow Travelers for the Merola Grand Finale in the War Memorial Opera Theater. In his first year in the acclaimed Houston Grand Opera Sarah and Ernest Butler Studio, Demetrious has had the opportunity to perform scenes from Die Fledermaus and Susannah. His first mainstage performance on the HGO Brown Stage will be in Wagner's titanic opera, Parsifal. As the Third Esquire in this epic, Demetrious will be sharing the stage with some of the greatest talent of our time, all under the baton of the exquisite Maestro Eun Sun Kim. Mr. Sampson has been the recipient of several great awards including second prize and audience choice at the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, second prize at the Opera Grand Rapids VanderLaan Prize, Second Prize at the Opera Ebony Competition, and a grand finalist of the Schmidt Vocal Arts Undergraduate Awards. He has also been a finalist of competitions like the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, John Alexander National Vocal Competition, and the Duncan Williams Competition. Demetrious has been a two-time District Winner of the Met. Opera Laffont Competition and an Encouragement Award Winner at the Regional Level.
Anna Fateeva
Pianist
Vero Beach Opera audiences know Anna, most recently as pianist in our 2024 Best of Broadway & Opera concert and our 2023 Rising Stars Vocal Competition. She has performed with distinguished artists such as Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, Vivica Genaux, Nadine Sierra, and Wendy Bryn Harmer, among others. She has collaborated with Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and the Magic City Opera. She is a faculty member for the Miami Music Festival and is frequently engaged as a pianist for the Naples Vocal Academy at Opera Naples, and as a coach and pianist for the FGO Studio Artists. Anna Fateeva holds a Doctor of Musical Arts diploma from the University of Miami, Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music (studio of Warren Jones). Anna is an active member of non-profit organization Young Patronesses of the Opera. This group has been very generous to Vero Beach Opera, and donated the workbooks we currently use in our OPERA IN THE CLASSROOM program.
Ian Campbell
Master of Ceremonies
Ian Campbell has worked in opera for more than fifty-five years as a singer, stage director, artistic director, broadcaster, lecturer, and company director. He began his career in 1967 in his native Australia as a tenor with Opera Australia, singing a variety of roles through the opening season in the Sydney Opera House, appearing in Der Rosenkavalier, Tannhäuser, Otello, The Rake’s Progress and Un ballo in maschera among many other operas. He moved into administration and stage direction in 1974, but returned to the stage as Ambrogio in The Barber of Seville with Florida Grand Opera in April, 2023. He has been General Director of The State Opera of South Australia, Assistant Artistic Administrator with the MET Opera, and for thirty years was General Director and Artistic Director of San Diego Opera. He has given master classes around the USA and Australia including at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, San Diego State University, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and the University of Denver. He chaired the jury for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions at the Sydney Opera House and was a member of the jury for the Marcello Giordani Vocal Competition with Vero Beach Opera. As a stage director his productions include Falstaff, Katya Kabanova, Tosca, Don Quichotte, Murder in the Cathedral, La traviata, Il trovatore and La Bohème for San Diego Opera, The Tales of Hofffmann and La Bohème for the State Opera of South Australia, and Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci for Opera Santa Barbara. He directed Terrence McNally’s play, Master Class, for Opera Orlando in 2015. He was a member of the faculty for Martina Arroyo’s young artist program, Prelude to Performance, in New York in 2016, 2017 and 2018 directing La Bohème, Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi and Falstaff. He directed Aida for Opera Idaho in 2019. For more than twenty years his weekly radio program, At the Opera with Ian Campbell, was heard in San Diego. In 2003 the San Diego Press Club honored him with both First Place for a Radio Series, and Best in Show for Radio in their annual awards program. The same year he received the Wolfensohn Award from Sydney University Graduates’ Union, North America, for services to the community.
The Jury
Román Ortega-Cowan
President of the Jury
Artistic Advisor, Vero Beach Opera
Román Ortega-Cowan is an operatic baritone who was born in Havana, Cuba. He trained in the operatic tradition both in Cuba and in Europe under such maestros as Stracciari, Bastida, Iglesias and Hubert de-Blanc. In 1960, Román immigrated to the United States and joined the financial institutions industry. Throughout his career, Román always found time to participate in his real passions: music, opera, and vintage car collecting. In the mid-sixties, Román performed in Spanish Zarzuelas with the now defunct Inter-American Opera Society in Miami under the direction of Maestro Manuel Ochoa. Román has performed leading roles from La Traviata, Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville, Rigoletto, La Serva Padrona, among others, both in the United States and abroad. In Florida, he performed with Richard Tucker and Raina Kabaivanska in Manon Lescaut and with William Lewis in Romeo and Juliet with the Orlando Opera Company. Roman has served as officer and director of various boards of service and civic clubs and was president of the original Vero Beach Rotary Club. He retired briefly in the mid-1980s as a successful senior executive, then spent substantial time working as a consultant to major financial-related private sector enterprises in the Pacific Rim, Mainland China, the Caribbean and South America. In 1988, he collaborated in the formation of Vero Beach Opera Guild, and along with the help of many passionate opera-lovers, has transformed the Guild into what is now Vero Beach Opera, Inc., for which his personal motto is “the best is yet to come.” Starting in 2004, through his efforts as Vero Beach Opera’s Artistic Director, Román and Vero Beach Opera have worked with contemporary opera stars including Metropolitan Opera Stars Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani, and Paul Plishka. He served on Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation Board of Trustees and The Marcello Giordani Foundation Board of Advisors. Roman’s pride and joy is his family. “My major life’s accomplishment was marrying Joan, having our children Tania and Roman IV, now two grandchildren. I am a happy and lucky naturalized American making music here in paradise, Vero Beach!”
Gregory Buchalter
Music Director, Vero Beach Opera
Metropolitan Opera Assistant Conductor
Music Director and Conductor, Varna International
Gregory became Vero Beach Opera's Music Director in 2023. He has been an Assistant Conductor at the MET Opera for many years. In fact, the position of “Maestro di Banda” was created for him there, and he worked extensively with the MET Opera Chorus. At the MET, he prepared several world premieres including John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, Philip Glass’ The Voyage and John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. He served as Music Director of Opera Fairbanks and Opera Camerata of Washington. Highlights include conducting Salome at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Die Fledermaus at the Vienna Volksoper, Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail at the Spoleto Festival, Cosi fan Tutte with the Mediterranean Opera Festival in Italy, and Eugene Onegin with the New Opera World Festival in Moscow, as well as the American Premieres of Mercadante’s I due Figaro, Von Winter’s Das Labyrinth, and Donizetti’s Olivo e Pasquale in New York, Idomeneo at New England Conservatory, Rigoletto with Opera Orlando, Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, Tosca and Pagliacci for Florida Grand Opera, and he conducted a tour of Madama Butterfly with Opera Lirica d'Europa and with Varna International, where he is Music Director. Upcoming is the Mozart Requiem with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and the Verdi Requiem, Don Giovanni, Hansel and Gretel and La Cenerentola with Varna International.
Susan Neves
Metropolitan Opera Singer
Susan Neves commands a repertoire of some of the most challenging roles written for soprano and has been acclaimed in theaters such as the Opera Bastille in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Monte Carlo, and opera houses throughout Italy including l’Arena di Verona, Bologna, Genoa, Parma, and Cagliari.
She is a sought-after teacher and coach in New York City and Orlando, Florida. She has taught at Stetson University, at the Miami Summer Music Festival at Florida International University, and has given Master Classes at the Manhattan School of Music.
Susan sings a special recital with Associate Artist, Stephanie Doche, for Vero Beach Opera Parlor Concert Series in February 2024.
In April/May 2023 she returned to Florida Grand Opera as Berta in The Barber of Seville, following two seasons in which she had several contracts cancelled due to COVID. In spite of that, she was able to sing a special Holiday Concert for Vero Beach Opera before a fully masked audience in December 2020, and a solo recital accompanied by Metropolitan Opera pianist, Caren Levine, also in Vero Beach in February 2022.
Appearances in the 2019-2020 season included a return to the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy, as Gertrud in Hansel and Gretel, Berta in The Barber of Seville for both Vero Beach Opera and Palm Beach Opera, recitals in Vero Beach and DeLand, Florida, and her first Katisha in The Mikado for Central Florida Vocal Arts.
Past Metropolitan Opera seasons include covering the role of Mrs. Rutland in Nico Muhly’s new opera, Marnie, in 2018-2019, and in 2017-2018 appearing in Elektra and covering the Mother in Hansel and Gretel. In February 2018, she sang a Verdi Concert for Vero Beach Opera, and gave a Master Class at the Manhattan School of Music.
Her 2016-2017 season included singing Marianne in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Der Rosenkavalier, available on DVD, and in October 2016, she made her Teatro Massimo Bellini debut in Catania, Sicily, as Turandot: “…Susan Neves confirmed herself as an excellent dramatic soprano…blessed with ease in the high tessitura of the role and smooth transition between registers…excellent diction, and a powerful imperiousness of dramatic gesture.” (Bellininews.it - 13/10/2016 - Giuliana Cutore)
In 2015-2016 she sang in another new production at the Metropolitan Opera, Strauss' Elektra, and gave a solo recital with Robin Jensen at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center in Orlando for Florida Opera Theatre.
As part of her 2014-2015 season, she added the role of Frugola in Puccini's Il tabarro for Vero Beach Opera, participated in The Three Divas Concert for the same company, and premiered the cycle, Alcott Songs, composed by Steve Danyew at Florida International University in Miami.
Highlights of her 2013-2014 season included her San Antonio debut as Madame Flora in Menotti’s The Medium in October 2013, and in January 2014 her Florida Grand Opera debut as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco, a role she has performed more than a hundred times. She also added her first musical theater role, Bloody Mary in South Pacific, with Piedmont Opera in March 2014. Her 2012-2013 season included Mozart’s Countess in Le nozze di Figaro in the Ancient Theater in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, a concert of opera arias with the Stara Zagora Orchestra in Bulgaria, and her San Diego Opera debut as the Prima Corifea in the first fully staged US production of Pizzetti’s Assassinio nella cattedrale with Ferruccio Furlanetto as Archbishop Thomas Becket. Earlier the same season, she covered the title role of Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera.
Other performances of note include her Seattle Opera debut as Odabella in Attila in 2012 and a concert version of Strauss’ Elektra with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She sang Puccini’s Turandot in a return to Pittsburgh Opera in 2011 and debuted the role of Flora in Menotti’s The Medium with Florida Opera Theater the same year. She appeared in 2010 as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera with Washington National Opera and covered both Odabella (Attila) and Lina (Stiffelio) at the Metropolitan Opera.
Other first roles and theatre debuts include her first Senta in Der Fliegende Hollander in Lecce in 2009, where she also performed Norma, and in the same year her first Turandot in Santiago, and her Edinburgh Festival debut as Lady Macbeth. She ended 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera, where she performed in Strauss’ Elektra. Lady Macbeth kept her busy in 2008, performing the role in Las Palmas, Como, Pavia and Brescia. Her debuts as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana and Leonora in La forza del destino were at Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice in 2007.
She has won particular acclaim as a Verdi soprano of the first rank with a vast repertoire including Abigaille in Nabucco, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Odabella in Attila, Elvira in Ernani, Leonora in Il trovatore and La forza del destino, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo, the title role in Aida and Alice Ford in Falstaff.
Susan Neves has also been highly praised as Norma, Tosca, Gioconda and Giorgetta.
She completed her musical studies at the Manhattan School of Music, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
As a winner of the International Luciano Pavarotti Vocal Competition in 1985, Miss Neves debuted as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in 1987 with the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
Among her available DVD and CD performances are Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) with the Metropolitan Opera, Abigaille in Nabucco (Verdi) with Genoa Opera, Elvira in Ernani (Verdi) with Parma’s Teatro Regio, and Mariella in Il Piccolo Marat (Mascagni) with the Netherlands Radio Symphony.
The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation in New York honored her with their Distinguished Achievement Award in 2015.
Susan Neves is a native New Yorker with a French mother and a Portuguese father. Consequently, she feels at home in whatever city she performs, and speaks several languages.
Randall Romig
Chairman, Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, SE Region
Randy Romig is Chairman of the Southeast Region of the Metropolitan National Opera Council and organist for the Georgia Festival Chorus. He hails from Pennsylvania, where studied piano, organ, and percussion. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University System of Pennsylvania, with further graduate work done at Villanova University. His first career was in public education, serving as Supervisor of Language Arts for a school district near Philadelphia and also teaching at Pennsylvania State University-Berks Campus. His second career was in advertising, ultimately filling the role of Vice President of Public Affairs for several major advertising firms in the nation. Concurrently, he has always been involved in music, serving as Director of Music for several congregations in Reading, Pennsylvania and now metro-Atlanta. After moving to Atlanta more than thirty years ago, Randy continued to work in the advertising field, but also served as interim Organist/Choirmaster for numerous parishes throughout the city. Most recently, he has been interim at Holy Innocents Episcopal, St. Luke’s Episcopal, Roswell Presbyterian, McEachern United Methodist, Shallowford Presbyterian, St. Luke’s Presbyterian of Dunwoody, and Morningside Presbyterian. He has been Chair of the Board of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra and President of the Atlanta Opera Guild.
Production & Support
Russell Franks, Artistic Director
Román Ortega-Cowan, Artistic Advisor
Rachel LeBon, Stage Manager
John LeBon, Asst. Stage Manager
Joseph and Carol Palowich, Registrars
Bob Webster, Competition Secretary-Audit
Paul and Sue Gauthier, Homestay
Marcia Loewinger and Joanne Webster, Social
The Vero Beach Ushers Society, Ushering