The Portland Opera Guild is the longest tenured organization of advocacy for the artform of opera in the State of Oregon. As part of its mission, Young Voices Northwest Competition was created in 2025 to nurture the next generation of professional opera singer talent and positively influence the embedded cultural capital of the region.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2026, 1 - 5 p.m.
The Lincoln Recital Hall at Portland State University

Competition participants accepted from a pool of applicants will perform on stage for three professional adjudicators and audience. The application and screening process is outlined within this competition overview.

MILESTONES:

  • Monday, September 14, 2026 - Application Deadline (online or postmark)

  • Monday, September 18, 2026 - Notification to Applicants for Competition Performance Finalists

  • Sunday, October 18, 2026 - Finalists perform before an audience and adjudicators.

ADJUDICATORS:

  • CARL HALVORSON is known internationally as a concert, opera and recital artist. He has given over 80 recitals at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, New York’s 92nd Street Y, and the Kennedy Center and National Gallery in Washington D.C. Operatic performances include roles with the Opera Theater of St. Louis, the Washington Opera, Minnesota Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Boston Opera, Arizona Opera, Tokyo Opera Nomori, Portland Opera, London’s Barbican Centre and Berkshire Opera. Following training at Yale and Juilliard, he won numerous competitions including the Young Concert Artists International Competition. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Bagby and Sullivan Foundations, and has recorded for numerous labels. He currently teaches voice at Lewis & Clark College.

  • DAVID McDADE is Seattle Opera’s principal coach, pianist and assistant chorus master, and has been assistant conductor for every presentation of The Ring since 1995. He spent several seasons at Washington National Opera as assistant conductor and coach, conducting their very first student matinee (The Crucible) and several grade-school programs (Rigoletto, Marriage of Figaro, and Madama Butterfly). He often accompanies the Laffont Auditions, and plays various keyboards with the Seattle Symphony in the pit of the Opera House. David’s varied background includes credits as french hornist, vocalist, and actor. He is a graduate of Portland State University and The Peabody Conservatory.

  • JACALYN KREITZER has sung leading and comprimario roles with Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Metropolitan, Seattle, Chicago Lyric, San Francisco, Dublin, Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, Los Angeles, New York City, Geneva and Chatelet Opera companies and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Prague National, St. Paul Chamber and Minnesota Orchestras, among others. Jacke studied with Viennese expatriate and Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Herta Glaz, receiving significant musical training from Glaz and her colleagues Erich Leinsdorf and Arnold Schoenberg. She taught Voice and Performance for 24 years at Cal Poly State University, and was the Founder and Director of Cal Poly Student Opera Theatre. She is an Outstanding in the Arts Honors Awardee, an Outstanding Faculty award winner, a panel member of Opera America, and an on-going adjudicator for Classical Singer New York.

COMPETITION WINNERS:

$5,000 in total prize money will be awarded, including an ‘audience favorite’ category.

[$2,000 Grand Prize; $1,000 Second Prize; Three $500 Encouragement Awards; $500 The Pietrok Audience Favorite]

Winners will also perform at the May 2027 Portland Opera Guild Luncheon & Annual Meeting

QUESTIONS?

Jutta Allen: juttaallen@comcast.net or 503.294.0010

UNDERWRITING OPPORTUNITIES:

Please indicate on your contribution check in the “memo” with “Young Voices.”

Download underwriting opportunities HERE.

APPLY NOW:

Please use the online application form to enter the competition HERE.

OR download the information and application packet HERE.

Funded in part through a generous matching grant from Opera Volunteers International.