Two Winners Named in
2024-25 Utah District Competition
Stephanie Chee and Yantian Sun were named winners of the 2024-25 Utah District round of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition held on November 2, 2024. Each of the winners received a cash prize of $1,250 and will compete with the winners of the Colorado-Wyoming, Mexico, and Arizona districts at the Rocky Mountain Regional auditions. The judges also awarded five encouragement awards of $500 to Joseph Calzada, Mary Fetterman, McKenzie Mulberry, Anthony Ruiz, and Sarah Scofield. The audience voted Linnea Miner Mott as their favorite singer of the day.
The judges for the competition were Daniel Belcher, Baritone and Voice Faculty at University of Houston Moores School of Music; Roger Malouf, Coach for Respiro Opera; and Susanne Mentzer, Mezzo Soprano and Professor of Voice at San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
The winners of the Utah District will compete in the Rocky Mountain Regional Auditions on February 8, 2025. Approximately 20-25 first place winners from the regions throughout North America will receive a cash prize and compete in the National Semifinals on March 9, 2025. Approximately 10 singers will then compete at the National Grand Finals Concert on March 16, 2025. Approximately four to six singers will be named Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Winners, each receiving a cash prize and invaluable career-making exposure.
Stephanie Chee, a 24-year-old soprano and native of Sunnyvale, California, earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and her Master of Music from Rice University. She is a Utah Opera Resident Artist, where she will perform the soprano solos in Messiah with the Utah Symphony and the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel. stephaniechee.com
Yantian Sun, a 25-year-old baritone originally from Jinan, China, and currently living in Edison, New Jersey holds a Bachelor of Arts in Musicology and a Master of Fine Arts in Vocal Performance from Shandong University as well as an Artist Diploma in Opera from Rutgers University. Earlier this year, he performed Dr. Pangloss, Cacambro, and Martin in Candide at New Brunswork Performing Arts Center.
Joseph Calzada, a 25-year-old baritone from Pembroke Pines, Florida, holds a Bachelor of Music from Indiana University and a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Josephcalzada.com
Mary Fetterman, a 24-year-old soprano from Boyertown, Pennsylvania, earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Westminster Choir College and a Master of Music from Eastman School of Music.
McKenzie Mulberry, a 23-year-old soprano from Houston, Texas, earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Brigham Young University and is currently working on a master's degree at BYU.
Anthony Ruiz, a 26-year-old tenor from Longmont, Colorado, is a student at Utah Valley University working on a bachelor's degree in vocal performance.
Sarah Scofield, a 26-year-old mezzo soprano who grew up in Indiana and France, and currently is a Resident Artist with Utah Opera, received her Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. sarahscofieldmezzo.com
The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. The district and region levels of the competition are sponsored and organized by hundreds of 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, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green, and Nadine Sierra.
Anthony Ruiz
McKenzie Mulberry
Mary Fetterman
Joseph Calzada
Yantian Sun
Stephanie Chee
The Utah District round of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominque Laffont Competition is supported in part by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, the residents of Salt Lake County through the Zoo, Arts & Parks (ZAP) Program and the University of Utah School of Music.
Pictured (left to right) Anthony Ruiz, Joseph Calzada, Mary Fetterman,
Sarah Scofield, McKenzie Mulberry, Linnea Miner Mott, Yantian Sun, and Stephanie Chee. (photo courtesy of Dr. Robert Breault)
Sarah Scofield
