Sopranos Shelén Hughes and Magdalena Kuźma, Tenor Alec Carlson, and
Bass-Baritones Evan Lazdowski and Joseph Parrish Each Win $12,000 Top
Award at the 53rd George and Nora London Foundation Competition

New York, NY – February 21, 2025 The winners of the 53rd George
and Nora London Foundation Competition for young American and Canadian
opera singers, one of the opera world’s oldest and most prestigious
competitions, were announced at the conclusion of the competition’s
final round this evening, which took place at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The
Morgan Library & Museum in New York City for in-person and online
audiences.

The event is now available to watch on YouTube.

A total of $74,000 was given in awards, announced by George and Nora
London Foundation President John Hauser. Of the singers (selected from
175 applicants) heard over three days of semi-final rounds, 12 were
selected as finalists to perform at the Morgan. Of these, five were
named winners of George London Awards of $12,000 each. The remaining
seven singers were awarded George London Encouragement Awards of $2,000
each.

George and Nora London Foundation President John Hauser, third from
right, with 2025 George London Award winners (left to right) Evan
Lazdowski, Magdalena Kuźma, Alec Carlson, Shelén Hughes, and
Joseph Parrish. Photo by Beth Bergman

Each finalist performed one selection, and the winners were announced to
the audience immediately after the judges’ deliberations. This
year’s judges were soprano Harolyn Blackwell, mezzo-soprano Susan
Quittmeyer, tenor Dimitri Pittas, bass James Morris, and Gayletha
Nichols, soprano and former Executive Director of the Metropolitan Opera
National Council Auditions, who chaired the jury. Lachlan Glen was the
competition’s pianist.

GEORGE LONDON AWARDS ($12,000 each):

Alec Carlson, tenor (33, Red Oak, IA), who sang “Grimes’s Mad
Scene” from Britten’s Peter Grimes George London Award in
memory of Lloyd E. Rigler, sponsored by The Lloyd E. Rigler and Lawrence
E. Deutsch Foundation, James D. Rigler, President_

Shelén Hughes, soprano (28, Cochabamba, Bolivia), who sang the “Snow
Maiden’s Aria” from Rimsky-Korsakov’s _The Snow Maiden
George London Award in memory of Leonie Rysanek, sponsored by an
anonymous donor

Magdalena Kuźma, soprano (28, New York, NY), who sang “Ha! Dzieciatko
nam umiera” from Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Halka George London
Award in memory of Mary Palumbo, sponsored by Donald Palumbo_

Evan Lazdowski, bass-baritone (26, Moultonborough, NH), who sang “When
my cue comes, call me” from Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
George London Award sponsored by the New York Community Trust and
the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers_

Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone (27, Baltimore, MD), who sang “A dream
wasted” from William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA George
London Award in memory of Norma Newton, sponsored by the George and Nora
London Foundation for Singers

GEORGE LONDON ENCOURAGEMENT AWARDS ($2,000 each):

Emily Damasco, soprano (24, Glen Mills, PA) Award in memory of Dr.
Herbert Appel, sponsored by Susan Appel

Sam Dhobhany, bass-baritone (23, Brooklyn, NY) – Award in memory of
Herbert J. Frank – sponsored by David Shustak and the George and Nora
London Foundation for Singers_

Ruby Dibble, mezzo-soprano (29, Kansas City, MO) – Award in memory of
Jaclyn Elyn, sponsored by the estate of Mark Elyn

Rachel Kobernick, soprano (26, West Chester, PA) – Award in memory of
Lois Kirschenbaum, sponsored by the George and Nora London Foundation
for Singers

Dalia Medovnikov, soprano (23, Woodbridge, CT) – _Award in memory of
J. Donald McNamara sponsored by Lynn Broward McNamara

Korin Thomas-Smith, baritone (28, Toronto, Canada) – Award in memory
of Jaclyn Elyn, sponsored by the estate of Mark Elyn

Alan Williams, bass (31, San Bernardino, CA) – Award in memory of
Lois Kirschenbaum, sponsored by the George and Nora London Foundation
for Singers

Since 1971, the foundation’s annual competition has given more than
300 awards, and a total of more than $2 million, to an outstanding
roster of young American and Canadian opera singers who have gone on to
international stardom – the list of past winners includes Joyce
DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Ryan Speedo Green, Catherine
Malfitano, James Morris, Eric Owens, Dimitri Pittas, Matthew Polenzani,
Sondra Radvanovsky, Neil Shicoff, Dawn Upshaw, and Willard White, to
name just a few. As The New York Times noted, “this prestigious
competition … can rightfully claim to act as a springboard for major
careers in opera.”

Megan Moore Performs the World Premiere of _Crossing Borders, A Song
Cycle Based on Nora London’s WWII Diary, by Jake Heggie, on April 6

To mark the 30th anniversary of its annual recital series by George
London Award winners, the London Foundation has made its first
commission of a composition: a song cycle by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer
based upon the WWII diaries of Nora London, telling the dramatic story
of her family’s escape from France to America when she was 16 years
old. Crossing Borders will have its world premiere performed by
mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, a 2022 George London Award winner, at her
recital at The Morgan on Sunday, April 6, at 4 pm. She will also perform
music by Rossini, Strozzi, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev with
pianist Francesco Barfoed.

George London and the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers

George London (1920-1985) was one of the greatest opera stars of the
20th century, who blazed a trail for American singers on the
international stage and created some of the most indelible
interpretations of prominent bass-baritone roles. In his later years, he
devoted much of his time and energy to the support and nurturing of
young singers, in partnership with his wife, Nora. See the full list of
George London Award winners:

In addition to the annual competition, the George and Nora London
Foundation also presents a recital series to give grantees exposure and
experience, and, in many cases, a New York recital debut. The foundation
also awards scholarships to promising high school students attending the
pre-college program of The Juilliard School, a program now in its 12th
year.

2025 George London Award Winners

Alec Carlson, tenor (33, Red Oak, IA) American heldentenor Alec Carlson
has been garnering attention and acclaim on the concert and operatic
stages for his “powerful voice.” In September of 2023, Alec was the
tenor soloist for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with The Estonian National
Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Neeme Järvi and sang his
first Verdi Requiem with the San Jose Symphonic Chorus. This season
includes his debut with Teatro Municipal de Santiago in his role debut
as Erik in _Der Fliegende Holländer_. Recent seasons have included his
house and role debut as Max (_Der Freischütz_) with Opera Wrocławska
and a concert of bel canto repertoire under the baton of Maestro Dmitry
Korchak with the Winter Bashmet Festival in Sochi, Russia. Alec was the
2019 recipient of the Richard Tucker Fund Award from Santa Fe Opera.
Other awards and distinctions held include a grant from the Wagner
Society of New York, the Richard and Kerry Stillwell Award from the
Opera Index Vocal Competition, the Tenor Viñas Competition, Brava!
Opera Theater and James M. Collier Vocal Competition, the Palm Springs
Opera Guild Competition, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation. Alec recently
graduated as an Emerging Artist with Opera for Peace, and is an alumnus
of the Ryan Opera Center with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera
Apprentice Program, Wolf Trap Opera Studio, and the Houston Grand Opera
Young Artist Vocal Academy.

Shelén Hughes, soprano (28, Cochabamba, Bolivia) Bolivian soprano
Shelén Hughes is passionate about both music and social impact. She
will soon make her European debut at Frankfurt Opera as Morgana in
_Alcina_ and perform with The Cleveland Orchestra. A graduate of the
Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School, she received the
2024 Florence and Paul DeRosa Prize and won first place in the
Zarzuela/Operetta division of the Gerda Lissner Competition. She is also
a 2024 Opera Index winner, a semifinalist in the Concours de Genève,
and a finalist in the Renata Tebaldi Competition. Hughes has performed
leading roles at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Opera Theatre of Saint
Louis, the Perelman Arts Center, and with the New York Festival of Song,
making her Carnegie Hall debut in 2019. Beyond the stage, she is the
founder of Voices for Bolivia, an international nonprofit dedicated to
improving the lives of elderly Bolivians in extreme poverty through
classical music.

Magdalena Kuźma, soprano (28, New York, NY) Polish-American soprano
Magdalena Kuźma is rapidly gaining recognition for her vibrant voice
and compelling stage presence. Critics have lauded her "star quality"
and "shining, free, and lustrous" voice. This season, she returns to the
Metropolitan Opera as Papagena in both productions of The Magic Flute
and Die Zauberflöte and makes her role debut as Bubikopf in Der
Kaiser von Atlantis with the New World Symphony. She will also perform
in a recital with the Cincinnati Song Initiative and as the soprano
soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Santa Rosa Symphony. Next
season, she makes her European debut as Pamina in the famous Barrie
Kosky production of Die Zauberflöte at the Polish National Opera. A
recent alumna of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program, Kuźma made her mainstage debut at the Met in the
2023-24 season as Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore and later that
season sang Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at The Glimmerglass
Festival. At the Met, she has also sung Sister Catherine in the premiere
of Dead Man Walking and Yvette in La Rondine. Other operatic roles
include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Frasquita in Carmen_, and
Adina in L’elisir d’amore. She is an active recitalist, having
performed at Wigmore Hall and other prestigious venues. On the concert
stage, she was the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the
Richmond Symphony. Kuźma has won numerous competitions, including the
Jensen Foundation and Butler International. She holds degrees from The
Juilliard School, Oberlin College, and Yale University, where she was
valedictorian.

Evan Lazdowski, bass-baritone (26, Moultonborough, NH) Cited as
“impressive” in The Wall Street Journal, and praised in Opera News
for his “warm, hearty bass-baritone,” Evan Lazdowski is a graduate
of the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. Productions with the
company have included Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro), Ariodante
Re), and Proving Up (Sodbuster). Engagements in the current season
include his upcoming debut at the Santa Fe Opera, where he will sing in
both La bohème (Sergeant) and Rigoletto (Usher). Past career
highlights include La bohème (Colline) at the Berkshire Opera
Festival, Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd, cover) at Chautauqua Opera, _Don
Giovanni (Il Commendatore) at the Aspen Music Festival, The Magic
Flute (Speaker) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and The Rake’s
Progress_ (Nick Shadow) with Juilliard Opera. At the Glimmerglass
Festival, Mr. Lazdowski sang the title role in the world premiere of
Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children, composed by Jens Ibsen. He
has been seen in recital at Alice Tully Hall, has been a finalist in
both Houston Grand Opera’s Concert of Arias and Dallas Opera’s
National Vocal Competition, and is a multi-season award winner of the
Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Mr. Lazdowski holds degrees from
both The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

Joseph Parrish, bass-baritone (27, Baltimore, MD) Joseph Parrish has
quickly established himself in the classical music world, performing at
renowned venues such as the Salzburger Festspiele, the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall. This season, he makes
debuts with the Oratorio Society of New York, MasterVoices, and Town
Hall NYC. During the 2023-24 season, he appeared at the Kennedy Center
in Washington, D.C., the Usedomer Musikfestival, and Carnegie Hall. In
June 2024, he debuted as Masetto in Don Giovanni with Cincinnati Opera
and as Potapitsch in The Gambler with the Salzburger Festspiele.
Joseph holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School, where he
participated in the Gluck Community Service Fellowship Program and the
Music Advancement Program. He is a frequent collaborator with the Denyce
Graves Foundation and Voices for Bolivia.