National Council Auditions

Past Winners

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions held its first audition in 1954 in the Twin Cities and over the past 55 years has helped discover generations of opera talent.

To see the National Winners throughout history, please see National Council Winners. 

Approximately 100 former participants in the National Council Auditions appear on the Met roster every season and nearly half of those are National Winners.

In the five-and-a-half decades since the first auditions in 1954, some of the biggest names in opera have participated in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  A list of notable alumni from each decade appears below.  Some are all-time greats, while others are just beginning their path to opera stardom.

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Stephanie Blythe, 1994

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Renée Fleming, 1988

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 Susan Graham, 1988

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Ben Heppner, 1988

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 Patricia Racette, 1988

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 Deborah Voigt, 1985

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Thomas Hampson, 1981

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Samuel Ramey, 1972

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Frederica von Stade, 1969

 

1950s
Martina Arroyo
Grace Bumbry
Teresa Stratas
 
1960s
Robert Hale
Jessye Norman
Gail Robinson
Frederica von Stade
Benita Valente
Shirley Verrett
 
1970s
June Anderson
Kathleen Battle
Eric Halfvarson
Ashley Putnam
Samuel Ramey
Cheryl Studer
Carol Vaness
Delores Ziegler
 
1980s
Christine Brewer
Renée Fleming
Susan Graham
Denyce Graves
Thomas Hampson
Ben Heppner
Hei Kyung Hong
Sylvia McNair
Patricia Racette
Ruth Ann Swenson
Deborah Voigt
 
1990s
Isabel Bayrakdarian
Stephanie Blythe
Eric Cutler
Michelle DeYoung
Elizabeth Futral
Jill Grove
Paul Groves
Nathan Gunn
Olga Makarina
Sondra Radvanovsky
Brian Asawa
Eric Owens
 
2000s
Meredith Arwady
Jennifer Black
Lawrence Brownlee
Nicole Cabell
Kate Lindsey
Michael Maniaci
Simon O’Neill
Susanna Phillips
Sarah Coburn
Angela Meade
Marjorie Owens
Charles Edwin Taylor