The 2025 Operalia Competition concluded on Sunday 26th October, with the winners named as mezzo-soprano Ekaterine Buachidze, from Georgia, and baritone Mihai Damian, from Romania.
Second prize was awarded to Natalie Lewis (mezzo-soprano) from the USA and baritone Grisha Martirosyan from Armenia, while third prize went to Russian soprano Samira Galimova and Italian tenor Dave Monaco.
A number of other prizes, including an audience prize and special prizes supported by the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture, were awarded to the 11 singers who advanced to the final round. Any finalists who are not prize winners receive an Encouragement Award of $5,000.
An international jury included representatives of opera companies of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and the US.
The competition, which is based in a different country each year, took place at the Bulgaria Concert Hall in Sofia, the first time the competition had been held in the country. The Sofia Philharmonic was conducted by Nayden Todorov.
Operalia, which is open to singers of all voice types between the ages of 20 and 32 years old, was founded in 1993 by tenor Plácido Domingo to help launch the careers of promising young opera singers. From hundreds of applications, 32 singers were selected to take part in the 2025 competition between 20th and 26th October.
