The Maryland Laffont Competition is part of the Metropolitan Opera’s annual search for emerging singers. The Maryland district has competed through different regional formats, including a combined DC–Maryland–Virginia district in 2023 and a separate Maryland district in 2025. Winners have advance to the national semi-finals and finals.
Tenor Angel Gomez, was a Maryland District winner, Middle Atlantic Region winner and became a Laffont national finalist. He is currently a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program
Mezzo-soprano Julianna Smith, from Towson, Maryland, was a Maryland District winner, Middle Atlantic Region winner and became a Laffont national semifinalist. She is currently a member of the Wiener Staatsoper Opernstudio.
The Met’s Laffont Competition—previously known as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions—is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers and is sponsored by hundreds of donors and volunteers from across North and South America. Some of today’s greatest singers got their starts in the competition, including Jamie Barton, Stephanie Blythe, Lawrence Brownlee, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Emily D’Angelo, Michael Fabiano, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Ryan Speedo Green, Lisette Oropesa, Eric Owens, and Nadine Sierra.
November 7 at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. Murphy Fine Arts Center recital hall.
The event is free and open to the public.
Judges for the 2026 Maryland District:
Chandler Johnson (he/him) Artistic Director, Dayton Opera
Laurie Rogers, Director of Artistic Operations, Opera Saratoga
Arianna Zukerman (she/her) | Manager, Artistic Administration, Opera and Classical Programming, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
