Meet Our 2022 Audition Winners
VALERIA VAZQUEZ
Soprano
2022 Winner
Cristina Nakad
Soprano
2022 Winner
Dulce Guadarrama
Soprano
2022 Winner
Eduardo Niave
Tenor
2022 Winner
Rafael Rojas Rea
Tenor
2022 Winner
Jennifer Mariel
Soprano
Damaris Lezama
Soprano
Abigail Favela Ramos
Soprano
Alejandro is a 2017 graduate of the Escuela Superior de Musica, Juarez University in the state of Durango, and was for two years a member of the Palacio de Bellas Artes Opera Studio in Mexico City. He has appeared on the stage of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the National Center for the Artes, the Bicentennial Theater in Leon, GTO in both complete opera roles and in concert with orchestra. He was a winner in the MX District Laffont Competition, both in 2020 and in 2021. In May, 2022 he will move to Chicago to begin a 1-2 year residency inthe Ryan Center young artist development program of the Chicago Lyric Opera.
Efraín received a diploma from the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in 2018, graduated from the Escuela Superior de Musica in 2020, and in 2019 was selected toparticipate for 2 years in the Bellas Artes Opera Studio, the most highly regarded and competitive young artist development program in Mexico. His repertoire spans works by Verdi, Donizetti, Mozart, Rossini and others. He was a winner of the MX District Laffont Competition in 2018, in the Pittsburgh District in 2019, and again here in 2021. In August 2022 he will move to Minneapolis to begin a year in the Resident Artist Program of the Minnesota Opera.
Mayela is a 2015 graduate of the Diocesan Superior School of Sacred Music specializing in Gregorian singing and earned a degree in cultural management from the University of Guadalajara in 2021. She is currently studying in the Opera Studio Beckmann, in Tequila, Jalisco, and was chosen to represent that Studio in Londonderry, Ireland in 2019. She has sung complete opera roles in major Mexican opera houses including those in Guadalajara and Queretaro. She was a winner of the MX District Laffont Competition in 2021.
Cecilia is a 2014 graduate of the Music Faculty of the UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She has studied with Ramon Vargas, Maria Katzarava, and Francisco Araiza, took first place in the 2013 Francisco Araiza Competition, and second place in the 2014 Lied Maria Bonilla Contest. She is currently studying in the Bellas Artes Opera Studio, the most highly regarded and competitive young artist development program in Mexico. She was a winner of the MX District Laffont Competition in 2021.
Zulema is a 2020 graduate of the Escuela Superior de Musica in Mexico City. She has sung solo roles with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Acapulco, and appeared in the 47th International Cervantino Festival. Currently she studies with Maestro Carlos Conde. Zulema was a winner of the MX District Laffont Competition in 2021.
Damaris graduated in 2020 from the Conservatorio National de Musica in Mexico City, and has studied with Lisette Oropesa, Barbara Frittoli, Maria Katzarava, Veronica Villaroel, in training programs in Italy and Croatia, and is currently a member of the distinguished Bellas Artes Opera Studio in Mexico City. She has sung leading roles in the operas Don Pasquale, Rigoletto, Le nozze de Figaro, Don Giovanni and Die Fledermaus. She was recognized with Encouragement Awards in the MX District Laffont Competitions of 2018 and 2019, and was a winner in that competition in 2021.