Two Winners Named in
2025-26 Utah District Competition
Julia Holoman and Stephen Pitters were named winners of the 2025-26 Utah District round of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition held on November 1, 2025. Each of the winners will receive a cash prize of $1,500. The judges also awarded four encouragement awards of $500 to Samuel Lorenzo Gilbert, Tavita Ah Loe, Ashley Stewart, and Kayleigh Tolley. There was a tie in the audience choice vote between Kayleigh Tolley and McKenzie Mulberry.
The judges for the competition were Beth Clayton, mezzo-soprano and integrative performance coach, Paul Hopper, Senior Director of Artistic Planning for LA Opera, and Mark Schnaible, bass-baritone and voice teacher.
The winners of the Utah District will compete in the Rocky Mountain Region Competition on February 7, 2026 along with the winners of the Colorado-Wyoming, Mexico, and Arizona districts. Approximately 20-25 first place winners from regions throughout the Americas will receive a cash prize and compete in the National Semifinals on March 15, 2026. Approximately 10 singers will then compete at the National Grand Finals Concert on March 22, 20256. Approximately four to six singers will be named Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Winners, each receiving a cash prize and invaluable career-making exposure.
Julia Holoman, a 24-year-old mezzo-soprano and native of Raleigh, North Carolina, earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master of Music from Rice University. She is currently a Utah Opera Resident Artist, where she performed Mrs. Massey in The Shining and will perform the alto solos in Messiah with the Utah Symphony and the Flora in La traviata. www.juliaholoman.com
Stephen Pitters, a 26-year-old countertenor originally from Orlando Florida, and currently living in Los Angeles, California, holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Miami, a Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California, and is currently working on a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California. He was a semi-finalist in the 2024 James Toland Vocal Arts Competition and an Encouragement Award winner in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, San Diego District. www.stephenpitters.com
Samuel Lorenzo Gilbert, a 24-year-old tenor from Bountiful, Utah, is a student at Brigham Young University working toward a Bachelor of Arts degree in Vocal Performance.
Tavita Ah Loe, a 23-year-old tenor from Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania, is a student at Brigham Young University working toward a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance.
Ashley Stewart, a 20-year-old soprano from Queen Creek, Arizona, is a student at Brigham Young University working toward a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance.
Kayleigh Tolley, a 24-year-old mezzo-soprano from Waldoboro, Maine, earned a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Oberlin College and Conservatory and is working toward a Master of Music degree at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. www.kayleightolley.com
The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition is designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers. The district and region levels of the competition are sponsored and organized by hundreds of volunteers from across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Some of today’s greatest singers got their start in the competition, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Stephanie Blythe, Eric Owens, Lawrence Brownlee, Lisette Oropesa, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Ryan Speedo Green, and Nadine Sierra.
Kayleigh Tolley
Ashleigh Stewart
Tavita Ah Loe
Samuel Lorenzo Gilbert
Stephen Pitters
Julia Holoman
Pictured (left to right) Kayleigh Tolley, McKenzie Mulberry, Tavita Ah Loe, Ashley Stewart, Samuel Lorenzo Gilbert, Beth Clayton, Julia Holoman, Stephen Pitters, Paul Hopper, and Mark Schnaible.
The Utah District round of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominque Laffont Competition is supported in part by tthe residents of Salt Lake County through the Zoo, Arts & Parks (ZAP) Program and the University of Utah School of Music.
