SINGER UPDATES

YUNUET LAGUNA

as Aida in the photo

Greetings, dear Mexico District MetOpera Laffont Competition sponsors, volunteers & friends!

If you’ve been with us from the very start, you will remember hearing soprano Yunuet Laguna in our very first Mexico District Laffont Competition in 2018.  I’m thrilled to share with you the career steps she has taken and where she is now:

· Yunuet was immediately recruited into the Metropolitan Opera’s young artist studio, the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program (2019-22).

· While there she took first prize in the national Opera Index Competition, was awarded career grants from the Hildegard Behrens and Joan Sutherland/Richard Bonynge foundations and appeared in featured roles with Wolf Trap and  DesMoines Metro Operas.

· In 2023 she made her international debut in Santiago, Chile as Mimi in la Boheme with the Chilean National Opera.

· Last summer she starred as Aida in the Immling Opera Festival in Halfing, Germany and went on to France to star as Leonora in Verdi’s la Forza del Destino with the opera companies of Montpelier and Toulon. (2024)

· This spring she returned to Germany, to the city of Kiel, to star as Elizabeth de Valois, the queen, in Verdi’s Don Carlos, and is currently back at the Immling Festival, starring in the role of Leonora in Verdi’s la Forza del Destino.

· It is not easy for a young singer to gain experience in major roles in the United States, so we are particularly proud to announce that this November, Yunuet will star as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. 

· She never fails to take opportunities to tell us how grateful she is for the opportunities this Competition had made possible for her —  thank you, Yunuet!

To accomplish these careers is a long and sometimes lonely journey.  We applaud every young Mexican singer who comes our way, hoping to achieve what Yunuet has already accomplished.  Thank you all for understanding how important your support has been and will continue to be, to make these careers a reality!

Our eighth annual Competition application period is underway, and our season calendar is attached.  Stay tuned for more!

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ALEJANDRO LUEVANOS

A year ago at this time, the news about tenor Alejandro Luevanos (Competition winner 2021) was that he had finished his two years in the Ryan Opera Center, Chicago Lyric Opera’s young artist studio, and was spending the summer in MetOpera soprano  Renee Fleming’s Aspen Opera Theatre and VocalARTS program.

· It was there that he performed the lead tenor role in composer Matthew Aucoin’s Music for New Bodies opera.

· It was also there that he learned the role of Rinuccio and appeared in it in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi.   Learning a role and having the right opera industry professionals in the audience when you perform it can mean a lot.

· Now Alejandro is represented by Ben Artists, management and public relations agency.

· He went on to perform that role last December in the annual Musica Viva Festival in Hong Kong.

· Last year he had already become a Sarasota (Florida) Opera Studio Artist, appearing as Beppe/Arleccchino in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and covering the lead role in Verdi’s Stiffelio.

· He next appeared as The Teacher in the Chicago Opera Theater’s concert premiere of Carlos Carrillo’s Remedios Varios (Various Remedies for Afflictions of the Body & Spirit).

· To hear Alejandro next, you may need to travel to Helsinki in February or March 2026, where he will star as Alfredo in Verdi’s la Traviata with the Finnish National Opera.

Congratulations, Alejandro!!  We are very proud of you and the career you are creating.  We understand Mexico City is now your home base, so many of us may be able to hear you sing sooner, whenever your international travel schedule permits.

And thank you, to our sponsors, volunteers, and friends for the role you have played in making it possible for hugely talented young Mexican singers like Alejandro to take their places on the international stages where they belong.  Kudos to all of you!!

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DANIELA CORTES &
ESAU ALVAREZ

Esau, extreme left; Daniela, extreme right

It’s time to congratulate two of our newest Laffont Competition winners, baritone Esau Alvarez and mezzosoprano Daniela Cortes (2024) for an outstanding achievement.

· Esau and Daniela have each been awarded a custom-designed individual artist residency by the Houston Grand Opera (HGO) during its 2025-26 season.

· They will each be in residence in Houston for 1-2 weeks of their choice between October & May and will:

· work one-on-one with Dr. Stephen King, one of the most highly respected voice teachers in the opera industry;

· receive advanced musical coaching with the director of the HGO young artist studio and members of the music staff;

· receive individualized dramatic training;

· receive individually focused career consultations;

· observe mainstage rehearsals and attend performances, as scheduled;

· be able to audition for casting directors or artist managers, as scheduled for the HGO studio singers; and

· have all expenses, including travel, lodging and instruction, paid by the HGO.

This opportunity is a new HGO initiative, made possible by a generous corporate grant which seeks to help the HGO to identify, train, and elevate talented young Latin American artists, in part by offering these  individualized fellowships to outstanding Latin American singers.”

It is being offered to only 5 singers for the coming season, and we are proud to say that 2 will be our own 2024 Mexico District MetOpera Laffont Competition winners.

Young Mexican singers very much need this type of intensely focused support to succeed internationally.  Our kudos go to the Novum Energy Foundation for acknowledging the huge gap that exists between talent and career success for young Latino singers and for this trail-blazing effort to open the doors of the opera world to them.  Huge applause, as well, to the Houston Grand Opera for its leadership in the partnership.

Congratulations, Esau and Daniela!!  We are very, very proud of you!   And to our sponsors, volunteers and friends, — kudos to you, as well, for making it possible for hugely talented young singers like Esau and Daniela to be heard, recognized, and rewarded for the talent that is so challenging for them to fulfill.  Thank you!!

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JIMENA MONTSERRAT

A year ago the update on soprano Jimena Montserrat (MX District 2020) was:

· that she was at Glimmerglass Opera for the summer, in a fully paid Artistic Administration Apprenticeship and that she was beginning a six-month internship with Stratagem Artists, a boutique artist management agency based in NYC.

Last fall she returned to Houston:

· to the DACAMERA Young Artist Program, where she had been in residence, and

· to a new teaching venture with the Houston Voice Studio, where she discovered that working with talented young children was where she wanted to focus her passion for singing and her teaching skills.

In a few weeks she will be moving to Westchester County, NY, just outside of Manhattan, where she will be working with more very talented young kids.

· She will teach voice at Music in Chappaqua, a children’s music school in existence for over 30 years, which believes in “the cultural value and civilizing influence of growing up with music.”

· She will also teach children at Random Farms Kids’ Theater, quite an amazing children’s theatre company (randomfarmsny.org) which boasts the placement of hundreds of child singers on Broadway and in national touring company productions.

· She continues to audition and seek opportunities to sing opera roles whenever she can.

Jimena never officially won a Laffont Competition prize, but one of the judges in our third annual Competition in 2020 learned (in the feedback session that every singer in the Competition receives) that she wanted to pursue a masters’ degree in voice.  That judge was Ana Maria Martinez, MetOpera starring soprano, who saw potential in her and made it possible for her to earn that degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University with virtually all of her expenses covered by financial aid.  She completed it in 2023.

Congratulations, Jimena, for carving out a career that will make a difference to dozens, if not hundreds of talented kids and will fulfill your own passion for singing.  You are proof positive that a singer need not be a prize winner to reap huge benefits from qualifying to sing in the Mexico District MetOpera Laffont Competition. 

And huge thanks to all of you, — our sponsors, volunteers and friends.  Please know that you, too, are making a difference – a difference not only in the lives of the hundreds of young Mexican singers who have been heard in San Miguel by MetOpera -certified judges, but also in the lives of hundreds more who can now see themselves on the international stages which seemed impossible only 8 years ago. Kudos to you all!!!!

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EDUARDO NIAVE

Tenor Eduardo Niave was a MX District MetOpera Laffont Competition winner in 2022.

He was immediately recruited into the young artist studio, Fabricca, of the Rome Opera and spent a year in residence there, from 2023-2024.

While there he gained performance experience, making debuts in eight different roles — in Rome, in other cities in Italy, and in Tokyo, where he shared the stage with MetOpera soprano, Lisette Oropesa.

· Eduardo was one of only EIGHT singers named “2023-24 Emerging Artists” by Opera for Peace (operaforpeace.org), whose goal is to promote international dialogue and social inclusion through opera.   Opera for Peace seeks talented singers, many from underserved backgrounds, who have the potential to become world-class artists, role models and leaders, as well as “citizen artists” who are socially responsible.  He has sung in Opera for Peace concerts in Italy, France and elsewhere in Europe.

· This year he began to appear in leading tenor roles:

· In March he was  Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen at the Al Bustan Festival in Beirut, Lebanon;

· In April & May he starred as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Festival Granda in Lima, Peru;

· In April he also appeared in Dublin and London in the Wexford (Ireland) Opera Studio’s “Taste of Wexford;”

· And in October & November he will sing the lead tenor role of Manrico in Verdi’s il Trovatore with the Wexford Festival Opera.

· Although he managed to secure most of these bookings on his own without benefit of an agent, we are proud to say that now he is represented by AIM Artists, an international artist agency for classical music.

Congratulations, Eduardo, for your endless energy, enthusiasm and focus on the craft of opera that you’ve chosen as your life’s work.  We are very, very proud of you and of the career you are launching so successfully.

And to our sponsors, volunteers and friends – I can never thank you enough for understanding how important we all are in the careers of these young singers.  They have all the talent they need, but bridging the gap between talent and career success is a huge challenge. At its very best, it’s a very hard path to pursue.  Without the resources, opportunities and support they receive from all of you, it would be many times harder.  Eduardo’s thanks and my own go out to all of you!!

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CECILIA EGUIARTE

Dear sponsors, volunteers and friends of the MX District MetOpera Laffont Competition,

Singers often hope that the time they spend polishing their skills in foreign countries will enhance their reputation back home.   This is certainly happening for soprano Cecilia Eguiarte, a Laffont competition winner in 2021.

• In 2024 she saw her award-winning screen acting debut featured in some of the most highly regarded film festivals in Europe and the USA (Athens, L.A., Miami, Toronto, London).  The film in which she starred was MUDA, the story of an opera singer who loses her voice due to emotional trauma & learns to regain it.  Its international acclaim included at least 9 awards:
• Two best actress awards for her;
• Three “best film” awards for the film; and
• Three to the director, Andrea Borbolla, as “best director”.
• It has not yet been publicly screened in Mexico.
• She was invited by the Meiningen State Opera in Germany to sing 6 performances of the starring role of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in fall, 2024.  While there, her talent afforded her opportunities to fill in last-minute in Verdi’s Don Carlos (La Voix du Ciel) and Wagner’s Tannhauser (Hirte).
• By the time she left Germany she had been Cio-Cio-San 18 times in three German opera houses, in Meiningen, Eisenach and Heilbronn, as rave reviews of her performances circulated there.
• We are proud to say that last month she was awarded first prize in the Virtuoso de Salzburg international music competition in Salzburg, Austria.
• Since her Mexico return:
• She appeared on the stage of the Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City to rave reviews in the starring role of Protagonista in the opera Un Re in ascolto by Luciano Berio;
• She was inteviewed by Celebrity Online Magazine;
• She will sing 9 arias in the style of Maria Callas in “Vive Callas,” a tribute to the famed soprano, in the 2025 National Autonomous University’s Festival of Culture, created by prize-winning Mexican dramaturg, Amaranta Osorio.
• She will sing with illustrious orchestras in major cities throughout Mexico through the spring of 2026.
• More engagements in starring roles with the Opera de Bellas Artes, Mexico’s national opera company, are being discussed for 2026 and beyond – very interesting roles, to be sure!

Congratulations, Ceci, for the amazing career you are creating, as you acquire international visibility while strengthening your relationships with some of the most accomplished figures across the spectrum of the arts in your own country.

And, as always, to all of you, — thank you for understanding how important all of you are to the success of these enormously talented young Mexican singers, for understanding that every one of  you makes a difference and for realizing that these singers will ALWAYS be grateful to you.  Mexican singers have an aptitude for gratitude that continues to amaze!

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