Butler Opera International Competition

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Butler Opera International Competition An international opera competition through the Butler Opera Center at the University of Texas in Austin. All the details: music.utexas.edu/boic.

The 2026 competition will take place September 29-October 1.

Congratulations to all the prize winners, the finalists, the semifinalists, and all who applied to our competition. We t...
10/02/2026

Congratulations to all the prize winners, the finalists, the semifinalists, and all who applied to our competition. We truly mean- with each of you inspiring opera across the globe- you’re all winners!

TONIGHT, at 6:30p CST. Livestream the finals of our competition. Eleven finalists chosen from over 350 applicants will c...
10/01/2026

TONIGHT, at 6:30p CST. Livestream the finals of our competition. Eleven finalists chosen from over 350 applicants will compete for over $35,000 in cash awards. The Grand Prize winner will receive $10,000.
Click here: https://youtube.com/?si=wlqlrsF9XazEY9JJ

Congratulations to our Finalists! They will compete tomorrow night, Thursday, October 1, at 6:30p in Bates Recital Hall ...
10/01/2026

Congratulations to our Finalists! They will compete tomorrow night, Thursday, October 1, at 6:30p in Bates Recital Hall for over $35,000 in cash awards. Tickets are available to hear these dynamic emerging artists live, or you can stream the event. Click the link for either option: https://music.utexas.edu/events/6117-butler-opera-international-competition.

The semifinal round of the competition was fierce and all of the semifinalists are to be congratulated!

Soprano Anna Thompson is a Grand Finals winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and a current member of The...
09/30/2026

Soprano Anna Thompson is a Grand Finals winner of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and a current member of The Metropolitan Opera’s
Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. This season, she makes her Met debut as the Priestess in Aida and covers Karolka in Jenůfa and the 1st Sentry in Parsifal. Recent roles include Countess Madeleine (Capriccio), Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Micäela (La Tragédie de Carmen), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Marie Antoinette (The Ghosts of Versailles), and the title roles in Suor Angelica and Alcina. In concert, she recently made her Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra. She has also been recognized with the top prize at the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, a George & Nora London Foundation Award, a Sullivan Foundation Award, third place in the Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition, second prize in the Giulio Gari Foundation International Vocal Competition, fifth place in the Loren L. Zachary Vocal Competition, and second place in the Florida Grand Opera: Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition.

Chinese bass baritone Zhanqi Wang is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at The University of Texas at Austin’...
09/29/2026

Chinese bass baritone Zhanqi Wang is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at The University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music. His recent operatic roles include Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore), Seneca (L’incoronazione di Poppea), and Gus (Later the Same Evening). He also performed Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro) in Vienna, Austria, and has appeared in scenes as Vodník (Rusalka) and Masetto (Don Giovanni). His concert repertoire includes the bass solo in Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem and Beethoven’s ninth symphony. Wang has received prizes in vocal competitions in China and Italy, including the Sesto Bruscantini International Vocal Competition. He earned his Master of Music from New England Conservatory and his Bachelor of Music from China Conservatory of Music.

Baritone Yihe Wang recently performed Figaro in JuilliardOpera’s production of I due Figaro, and appeared as Malatesta i...
09/29/2026

Baritone Yihe Wang recently performed Figaro in Juilliard
Opera’s production of I due Figaro, and appeared as Malatesta in
Don Pasquale and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with New England
Conservatory Opera. In the summer of 2026 he joined The Santa Fe
Opera as an apprentice singer, where he appeared in productions
of Die Zauberflöte, Madama Butterfly, and Lili Elbe. Wang was the winner of the Michigan district in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont
Competition. In 2026, he advanced to the final rounds of The Dallas
Opera National Vocal Competition and the Giulio Gari Foundation
International Vocal Competition. Wang recently earned a Graduate
Diploma from The Juilliard School. He also holds a master’s degree
from New England Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree from Xi’an
Conservatory of Music.

Tenor Matthew Sink is a second-year resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he studies with Bill Schuman. Hi...
09/29/2026

Tenor Matthew Sink is a second-year resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts, where he studies with Bill Schuman. His recent engage-
ments include Flamand in Strauss’ Capriccio with the Academy of
Vocal Arts and Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with San Francisco
Opera’s Merola Opera Program. Upcoming engagements include
Luigi (Il tabarro) and Manrico (Il Trovatore). His competition honors
include the 2025 Emerging Artist Award from Opera Index and the
Marcello Giordani Award from the Premiere Opera Foundation
International Vocal Competition. In 2026, he was awarded second
place prizes in the Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition and the Jensen National Vocal Competition, as well as encouragement awards from the George London Vocal Competition and the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition.

Soprano Rachel Schlesinger is a Slovak-American lyric soprano from New York. She is pursuing a Master of Musical Arts in...
09/28/2026

Soprano Rachel Schlesinger is a Slovak-American lyric soprano from New York. She is pursuing a Master of Musical Arts in opera at Yale School of Music, where she studies with Gerald Martin Moore. Recent
performances include Magda (La rondine), Dorinda (Orlando), and
the title role in Alcina. At Yale, her upcoming roles include Tatiana
(Eugene Onegin) and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte). Schlesinger’s other
roles include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Despina (Così fan tutte), Noémie (Cendrillon), and Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro). She recently received an encouragement award at the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition and completed her studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied with César Ulloa. She holds a B.M. in vocal performance from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music.

Praised for his “attractive tenor… linked to a clarion kick,” Demetrius Sampson Jr is a rising star from Atlanta, Georgi...
09/28/2026

Praised for his “attractive tenor… linked to a clarion kick,” Demetrius Sampson Jr is a rising star from Atlanta, Georgia. A 2023 graduate of Georgia State University, he joined the Butler Opera Studio at Houston Grand Opera, where he gained invaluable experience in productions including Parsifal, Il Trovatore, and Hänsel und Gretel. His recent roles include Sportin’ Life (Porgy and Bess), Lennie (Floyd’s Of Mice and Men), Rodolfo (La Bohème) with Austin Opera, and Cavaradossi (Tosca) with Wolf Trap Opera. He will also make house debuts with Opera Omaha, Seattle Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera in the coming year. Sampson has participated in numerous programs
including Des Moines Metro Opera, San Francisco Opera’s Merola
Opera Program, and Wolf Trap Opera. His concert work includes
performances with the Washington Chorus, Savannah Philharmonic,
Eugene Concert Choir and Orchestra, and National Symphony
Orchestra. An accomplished competitor, he has earned numerous honors, including national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, second prize in the Opera Ebony Competition, and finalist and engagement recipient in the Belvedere Singing Competition.

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2406 Robert Dedman Drive
Austin, TX
78712

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+1 512-471-0745

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