Winners in the Western regional finals go on to compete in the national semifinals and the grand national finals in New York City.

About The Met Auditions

Designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers, The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions are held annually in 15 regions of the United States and Canada. There are 45 districts within these regions, each providing an opportunity for talented singers to enter the auditions at the local level. The auditions are administered by National Council members and volunteers in each region.

Winners of the district auditions advance to their regional finals, where they compete to win a trip to New York to participate in the national semifinals, a competition held on the stage of The Metropolitan Opera. The semifinals are closed to the general public. Approximately 10 semifinalists will be selected as national finalists and will compete the following Sunday in a public concert, the Grand Finals Concert, accompanied by The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

The jury will award up to five Grand Winner awards of $15,000 each. The concert will be broadcast nationwide on The Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. The remaining national finalists will receive $5,000 each, and those singers who were national semifinalists but who did not advance to the national finals will be given $1,500 to further their studies.

Many of the world’s foremost singers — including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jessye Norman, Samuel Ramey, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt and Dolora Zajick — have received awards from the National Council. Approximately 100 former auditioners appear annually in Metropolitan Opera productions.