Semi-Final Competition, May 31, 2025 10:00AM

Schmidt Vocal Arts (SVA) is pleased to announce the fourth annual Schmidt Vocal Competition Nationals, held in partnership with Sarasota Opera. This annual event for U.S. high school students, funded by the William E. Schmidt Foundation, sees 400+ singers compete each year – this season for more than $650K in cash awards and scholarships – just at the critical point in their early careers when they begin to look toward training on a professional level. SVA will hold fifteen day-long regional competitions throughout the 2024-25 season in locations from coast to coast, and the top three winners of each – as well as from an independent, virtual cohort – will be invited to compete in the national competition, hosted by Sarasota Opera in the company’s William E. Schmidt Opera Theatre from May 30-June 1, 2025. Celebrated judges for the national competition will be mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, countertenor John Holiday (University of Maryland-College Park), and Melissa Wegner (Executive Director of the Laffont Competition/Lindemann Young Artist Program at the Metropolitan Opera.)