The Metropolitan Opera Names Beverly Sills Artist Award Winner for 2025

Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen will receive $50,000 to put towards vocal coaching, language study, and other expenses

The Metropolitan Opera's Beverly Sills Award was established to support emerging singers by offering funding for vocal coaching, language study, travel costs, and other professional expenses. It carries a value of $50,000 and is awarded annually to extraordinarily gifted singers whose careers are taking off at the Met.

In 2025, the award went to soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen. She has appeared at the Met on several occasions over the last decade, making her debut as Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in 2014 (and reprising the role in 2015/16 and 2017/18 seasons). She has also sung Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and will sing the title role in Strauss’s Arabella next season.

A graduate of Brigham Young University and an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Willis-Sørensen won the 2014 Operalia competition in Los Angeles and the 2011 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, and she was a winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

She holds a multi-record deal with the Sony Classical label, and her debut album was released in 2022. Her second disc, Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder, came out in March 2023.

Recent recipients of the Beverly Sills Award include sopranos Erin Morley and Brenda Rae, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green.

"As a young singer, I dreamed of singing at the Metropolitan Opera and remember the joy of singing for the first time on this stage as a Laffont Competition finalist in 2010," Willis-Sørensen said. "I feel incredibly grateful that my dream of performing here has come true, and to receive this recognition for my work is an honor that I truly treasure — one that encourages me to continue pushing my limits and further developing my artistic ability."

"Beverly Sills has always been an inspiration to me, with incredible artistry, masterful technique, breadth of repertoire, promotion of opera in popular culture, and her devotion to charity. It is an honor to be associated with her in some small way and to continue her work in promoting opera."