CCM singers advance to Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition semifinals

Three UC College-Conservatory of Music alumni and one current student are semifinalists in the 2026 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. One of the most prestigious singing competitions in the world, the Laffont Competition's national semifinals take place on Sunday, March 15, 2026. 

Vying for their chance to "win the Met," semifinalists from CCM include alumni Lauryn Davis (MM Voice, ’24), Page Michels (BM Voice, '18) and Gabrielle Turgeon (MM Voice, '24) and current student Kristine Overman, who is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice. All are sopranos who studied or study with Gwendolyn Coleman at CCM. 

In recent years, many CCM alumni have advanced to the semifinal and final rounds, and several have been named winners of the Grand Finals, including 2025 winner Emma Marhefka (MM Voice ’23), 2023 winner Teresa Perrotta (AD Opera ’21, MM Voice ‘19), 2021winner Brittany Olivia Logan (MM Voice ‘20) and 2019 winner Elena Villalon (BM Voice ‘19).

CCM alumni are certainly no strangers to the Metropolitain Opera's stage. In 2025-26, Marhefka made her Met debut as Papagena in The Magic Flute as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. The Magic Flute also featured Thomas J. Capobianco (MM Voice, ‘16) as Monostatos and Joélle Harvey (BM Voice '07, MM Voice '09) as Pamina. Edward Nelson (BM Voice, 2011; MM Voice, 2013) returned to the Met to perform as Tracy Bacon in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Frederick Ballentine (BM Voice, '11) performed as Sportin’ Life, Norman Garret (MM Voice, '09) performed as Jim, Adrienne Danrich (MM Voice, '95) performed as Lily and Brittany Olivia Logan (MM Voice, '20) performed as Strawberry Woman in in Porgy and Bess. Capobianco (MM Voice, ‘16) also performed as Emperor Altoum in Turandot. In 2024-25, Perrotta and Robert Stahley (MM Voice, '16; AD Opera, '18) made their Met Opera debuts in The Magic Flute as First Lady and First Guard, respectively; Christian Pursell (MM Voice, '17) made his Met debut as Sciarrone in Tosca; and Jessica Faselt (MM Voice, '16) performed as Flacon in the Met's Die Frau ohne Schatten. 

Additionally, multiple CCM alumni worked on the 2026 Grammy Award-nominated recording of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Tesori: Grounded, including Capbianoco as Ground Control, Christopher Bozeka (MM Voice, '15) as Mission Coordinator and Marcus Shields (MM Voice, '15; AD Opera, '17), assistant stage director.

Featured image at the top: The Metropolitan Opera.