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.
Winners from the Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska District competitions will come together in the Upper Midwest Region competition on February 14, 2026.
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA ERIC AND DOMINIQUE LAFFONT COMPETITION
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 the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Some of today’s greatest singers got their start in the competition, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Eric Owens, Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Nadine Sierra, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Ryan Speedo Green, and Anthony Roth Costanzo.
The competition is grateful to its donors for prizes at the national level and to the Tobin Endowment for the Mrs. Edgar Tobin Award, given to each first-place region winner.
Support for this program is generously provided by the Charles H. Dyson Endowment Fund at the Metropolitan Opera.
