Zenith Opera Competition

06/19/2026

💥News!💥

Daniel Scofield, a 2024 ZOC finalist whose international career continues its impressive ascent, has an exciting season ahead.

This season brings a series of major milestones, including festival, role, and house debuts across some of the world’s most distinguished opera stages. Highlights include his debut with the Esker Festival Orchestra as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana; role and house debuts as Iago in Otello at the Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine; and a house debut in the same role at the Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg.

Further engagements include his debut with Florida Grand Opera as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor; a role and house debut as Donner in Das Rheingold at the Gran Teatre del Liceu; and an exciting first contract with the Metropolitan Opera, covering Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, a new role in his repertoire.

The season concludes at the Prague State Opera, where Daniel performs the iconic verismo roles of Alfio and Tonio in Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci.

A season filled with landmark debuts, new roles, and prestigious international engagements marks another exciting chapter in Daniel’s artistic journey.

Bravo, Daniel! Wishing you every success for the season ahead—toi toi toi! 🎭👏

06/12/2026

💥News 💥

Hyunkyum Kim, ZOC 2025 2nd Prize Winner, stars as Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, leading the cast at the . Opening tomorrow and running through July
Toi toi toi! 🎭

05/22/2026

Thank you Operawire!

The 2026 Zenith Opera Competition has announced its winners following an evening of performances in Vienna.

05/20/2026

Congratulations to our 2026 winners!

Ilya Silchuk - 1st prize winner
Shannon Keegan - 2nd prize winner
Rubby Dibble - 3rd prize winner and Samantha Hankey Nova Award winner

Congratulations as well to all our finalist! It was an amazing evening of singing.

A big thank you to our panel: Matthew Broom, Carolin Weilputz, Xenia Hofmann, Michael Barobeck and Veronique Walter for their attentive listening and expertise!

A big thank you and ♥️ to Samantha Hankey for joining us - and talking to our finalists as well as awarding her prize! A joy to have you with us!

05/14/2026

Meet our 2026 finalist Ilya Silchuk

Ilya Silchuk was a member of the Junges Ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden for two years and has been a member of the permanent ensemble there since the 2023/24 season. The roles that he has sung in Dresden include Schaunard (La bohème), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Kilian (Der Freischütz), Kuligin (Káťa Kabanová) and Hermann / Schlemil (Les Contes d’Hoffmann).

Ilya Silchuk has won prizes in several international singing competitions, including first prize at the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation Opera Competition in Hanover (2023), third prize in the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino (2022), the special prize of the Saxon State Opera Dresden at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Erfurt (2021) and the second prize in the Bachelor’s degree category at the International Giulio Perotti Singing Competition in Ueckermünde (2019). He won the Wagner Young Talent Prize in the competition in Leipzig in 2020, where he also received a Bayreuth scholarship; in the same year he received a scholarship from the Ad Infinitum Foundation Lübeck.

In 2021 he performed the role of Figaro in a filmed version of Le nozze di Figaro, produced by PAMY Media productions (Dornach / Switzerland).

Ilya Silchuk was born in 1993 in Nizhny Novgorod and studied from 2018 to 2022 at the University of Music Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden with Jörg Hempe. Previously he completed an acting degree at the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in Moscow and was engaged for two years by the Vakhtangov Theatre. His theatre roles included Prince Nekhlyudov in Tolstoy’s Resurrection and the notary Andrei Ilyich in Chekhov’s A Misfortune.

05/13/2026

Meet our 2026 finalist Aitana Sanz.

Spanish soprano Aitana Sanz has quickly established herself as one of the most promising young voices of her generation. Recent international highlights include Ismene in Mitridate at Opéra de Lausanne, the Voice of the Falcon in Die Frau ohne Schatten at Dutch National Opera, Clorinda in La Cenerentola at the Bregenz Festival, Giannetta in L’elisir d’amorein Monte Carlo, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in Treviso and Rovigo, and Sophie in Werther at Teatro Cervantes. She has also appeared in solo recitals and gala concerts in Lausanne, Valencia, and with the Gibraltar Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed Weber’s Missa Sancta No. 1 at the Bregenz Festival.
In 2025, she won First Prize at both the K-Gagong Superstar Competition in Seoul and the International Singing Contest CARRARA. Earlier distinctions include First Prize at the Giulio Neri International Competition, Second Prize at Concorso Città di Pienza, Third Prize at the Alfredo Kraus International Singing Competition, and the “Voice of the Future” Award at the Otto Edelmann Competition.
Born in Valencia, Aitana Sanz studied piano and voice with soprano Isabel Rey before completing her master’s studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna under baritone Florian Boesch. She is currently coached by soprano Krassimira Stoyanova.
At 19, she made her debut at Teatro Pérez Galdós as Una Voce dal Cielo in Verdi’s Don Carlo. She returned in 2022 to debut as Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, stepping in for Jessica Pratt. That same year, she joined the Accademia Rossiniana at the Rossini Opera Festival, making her acclaimed Italian debut as Contessa di Folleville in Il Viaggio a Reims, followed by her U.S. debut as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera in Maryland.
Since 2022, she has been a member of the Accademia del Maggio Fiorentino, where she debuted as Frasquita in Carmenand Pamina in a children’s production of Die Zauberflöte. In 2023, she joined the Salzburg Festival Young Singers Project, performing Le Feu, La Pastourelle et Le Rossignol in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. In 2024, she appeared as Solveig in Peer Gynt at Maggio Fiorentino and Elisetta in Il Matrimonio Segreto at Teatro Pérez Galdós.

Aitana Sanz has collaborated with conductors including Yves Abel, Anna Handler, Zubin Mehta, and Sesto Quatrini. Upcoming engagements include Oscar at Maó Opera, Rosina in Paisiello’s Barbiere di Siviglia at La Maestranza de Sevilla and the Auditorio de Granada, and Frasquita in Carmen at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.

05/12/2026

Meet our 2026 finalist Sung-Hwan Damien Park.

Sung-Hwan is a South Korean operatic baritone. He began his musical studies in Korea, earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees under Carlo Kang at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. He distinguished himself early on through multiple competition successes, including being a semi-finalist of the 8th Mirjan Helin International Singing Competition in 2019.

He continued his training at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala (2021–2023), where he studied with Luciana D’Intino, Pietro Spagnoli, and Vincenzo Scalera. At the beginning of his studies there, he was featured as a promising young artist in the Take Me to the Opera by the BBC.

He made his debut at Teatro alla Scala in Ariadne auf Naxos (2022) and subsequently appeared in productions including Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Il Matrimonio Segreto, and Chiara e Serafina at the Donizetti Opera Festival. His 2023 season included appearances in Salomé and Andrea Chénier, working with leading conductors and directors.

In 2024, he was a finalist of the Tenor Viñas Competition and a 1st Prize & Audience Award winner of the 23rd Ottavio Ziino International Opera Competition. He also made his debut in Korea as Schaunard in La Bohème.

In 2025, he debuted as Dandini in La Cenerentola at Teatro alla Scala, followed by concerts and recitals across Korea and Europe, including performances at Seoul Arts Center, Teatro Massimo, and in Germany with the Philharmonischer Chor Bayreuth.

In 2026, he performed a gala concert at Teatro Sociale in Amelia and a solo recital in Rome with Associazione Roma Sinfonietta. His upcoming season includes a recording of Lancelot with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Prinzregententheater, as part of a Palazzetto Bru Zane–produced project.

05/11/2026

Join us for the 2026 final in Vienna.

Hear our 8 finalists >>

Ruby Dibble - USA
Christopher Humbert Jr - USA
Shannon Keegan - USA / Hungary
Solen Mainguené - France
Margarita Polonskaya - Russia
Sung-Hwan Damien Park - South Korea
Ilya Silchuk - Russia
Oleh Lebedyev - Ukraine

compete for cash prizes and career awards + meet Samantha Hankey in person who will join us as well.

You can attend the finale in person or log online to view via our youtube channel.

For tickets:
https://checkout.revolut.com/pay/2f733cdd-29ab-433c-96fb-5c262ac8c9ef

Youtube: https://youtube.com/live/a1ZICynLo40?feature=share

05/11/2026

Meet our 2026 finalist Oleh Lebedyev.

Ukrainian baritone Oleh Lebedyev is a Germany-based freelance opera singer recognized for his rich timbre and charismatic stage presence. In 2026, he won First Prize at the Emmerich Smola Förderpreis – SWR Kultur Junge Opernstars, broadcast live on SWR Kultur.
Recent highlights include his Glyndebourne Festival debut as cover Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus in Tel Aviv with Rosie Danziger. In the 2025–26 season, he performs Belcore in L’elisir d’amore at Stadttheater Klagenfurt and appears as a soloist in Mozart’s Krönungsmesse and Requiem, as well as works by Bach.
From 2019 to 2021, Lebedyev was a member of the Centre de Perfeccionament Plácido Domingo at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, followed by the Opernstudio NRW from 2021 to 2023. He has worked with artists including Plácido Domingo, Carlo Rizzi, Roger Vignoles, and Raúl Giménez.
A laureate of several international competitions, his awards include First Prize at the Premiere Opera Foundation Competition, the Teatro Real Special Prize at the Concorso Lirico Ottavio Ziino, and the Eva Kleinitz Award at the Concorso Lirico Portofino. He has performed at leading venues including Semperoper Dresden, Teatro Real, and Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

05/10/2026

Meet our 2026 finalist Solen Mainguené.

Solen is a French soprano and ensemble member of Oper Leipzig, recognized for her interpretations of the great lyric and dramatic heroines of the operatic repertoire. After beginning her career as a resident artist at the Hamburg State Opera, she performed more than twenty roles there, including Micaëla, Musetta, and the First Lady in *Die Zauberflöte*. She has since appeared as a guest artist at major European opera houses in leading roles such as Violetta, Mimì, Tatjana, Liù, Nedda, Antonia, Manon, Contessa, and the Marschallin in *Der Rosenkavalier*, a role that has become central to her artistic profile.

Solen studied at the Conservatoire de Rennes before continuing her training at the Peabody Conservatory and the Mozarteum University Salzburg, later perfecting her education as a member of the Hamburg State Opera’s Opera Studio. Her teachers have included Stanley Cornett, Boris Bakow, John Shirley Quirk, Andrzej Dobber, and currently the American vocal pedagogue Neil Semer. She also worked closely with conductors Simone Young and Michel Plasson, and attended masterclasses with legendary artists including Montserrat Caballé, Grace Bumbry, and Dame Ann Murray.

A recipient of numerous international awards and scholarships, Solen has been nominated three times by Opernwelt, including twice for “Best Female Artist of the Year.” Alongside her performing career, she is also a mentor for advanced vocal students at the Mendelssohn Bartholdy Conservatory, where she coaches and supports young singers through the MentoringArts Program.