2025-26 Utah District Judges
The competitors sing for three judges who have been selected from an elite list of opera professionals (vocal coaches, career singers, opera composers, opera stage directors, heads of opera companies and artistic administrators) who are highly qualified to identify talent and to assist young singers with developing and refining their singing.
Lawrence Edelson
General Director,
Chicago Opera Theater
Artistic and General Director,
American Lyric Theater
Paul Hopper
Senior Director,
Artistic Planning
LA Opera
Beth Clayton
Mezzo Soprano
Integrative Performance Coach
Mezzo Soprano Beth Clayton led an active solo career for over twenty years, singing over fifty leading roles with companies both in the U.S. and abroad. Particularly known for her interpretation of the title role of Carmen, she also created a number of roles in world premieres, including John Adams’ Doctor Atomic, Thomas Adès’ America, Howard Shore’s The Fly, William Bolcom’s A Wedding, Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree, Deborah Drattell’s Lilith, and Lembit Beecher’s I have no stories to tell you. On the concert stage, she made appearances with leading orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra to The Israeli Philharmonic. Her discography includes the Grammy-nominated recording of The Glimmerglass Festival production of The Mines of Sulphur as well as Five Songs of Bernstein with The Minnesota Orchestra. She holds two Bachelors’ degrees in both Voice Performance and Music Education from Southern Methodist University, a Master of Music in Voice Performance from Manhattan School of Music, and most recently a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University. She currently combines her performance experience with the platform of total mental well-being in a private practice geared towards the specific needs of performing artists but also those in the LGBTQ community and beyond. Ms. Clayton was a finalist in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions in 1995(and has now become an adjudicator for the MONC competition), a Sullivan Award Winner, and an alumna of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program and the Houston Opera Studio. She is a native Arkansan but resides primarily in Santa Fe, New Mexico and secondarily in New York City.
Paul Hopper is LA Opera’s Senior Director, Artistic Planning. His duties in Los Angeles include overseeing all casting for the company and serving as the artistic and strategic head of the company’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program. For the five seasons before, he was the Associate Artistic Administrator at The Metropolitan Opera where he worked on the casting of over 200 performances annually, including the Grammy award winning productions of Porgy and Bess, Akhnaten, Fire Shut up in My Bones, and Champion. Previously, he was the Assistant Artistic Director at Houston Grand Opera where he assisted in long term artistic planning and casting, managed special artistic initiatives, and guided a variety of audiences in learning more about opera, including numerous events in support of the company’s first Ring Cycle. As principal dramaturg for the company he worked closely with composers and librettists in the commissioning and development of new works. He regularly serves on the juries for international vocal competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, the Queen Sonja International Music Competition, the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition, and the Tenor Viñas Competition. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Houston, Paul is also Artistic Advisor for the Lakes Area Music Festival. He previously held positions at the Santa Fe Opera and ADA Artist Management.
Lawrence Edelson is highly respected as a visionary company leader and stage director who has created programs in the areas of artist mentorship and new opera development that have served as models of innovation for opera companies across the country. Lawrence originally studied voice and musicology at the University of Ottawa in Canada before completing his degrees in Directing and Performing Arts Administration, both at New York University. As a stage director, Lawrence’s diverse, critically acclaimed productions have been seen across the country at companies including Florida Grand Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Virginia Opera and Wolf Trap Opera. In 2005, Lawrence founded American Lyric Theater (ALT), where he serves as Artistic and General Director. At ALT, Lawrence created the Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), the only full time mentorship initiative for emerging opera composers, librettists and dramaturgs in the country. He was also responsible for initiating the Opera Writers Diversity and Representation Initiative (OWDARI), for which he was recognized in 2021 by Musical America as one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year. At ALT, Lawrence has overseen the development of over 20 operas. An active practitioner of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process, Lawrence recently contributed a chapter on the use of the CRP in the development of new operas in Lerman’s most recent book, Critique is Creative: The Critical Response Process in Theory and Action. From 2014-2022, Lawrence also served as Artistic and General Director of Opera Saratoga. During his tenure, he was responsible for rebranding the company; expanding the company's young artist program; increasing community engagement and education programs year-round; and diversifying the repertoire produced. In 2023, Lawrence was appointed General Director of Chicago Opera Theater, a position he now holds concurrent with his role at American Lyric Theater.
