Congratulations to the 2026 DLOG Competition Finalists!
Thank you for tuning in to the 2026 DLOG Competition for Colorado Singers. The judges have made their choices and the results are posted below. A huge bravo!!! to our esteemed Competition pianist Jeremy Reger who once again brought our annual event to its exciting conclusion. Special thanks also go out to our Competition organizers Karen Bruggenthies, Lisa Curtis, Marleen Diamond, Becky Gantner, Gayle Landis, and Megan Quilliam. Bravi tutti!!!
First Place: $10,000 GALEN & ADA BELLE SPENCER FOUNDATION AWARD
Jordan McCready, 24, Mezzo-Soprano
Jordan McCready is an Alaskan Mezzo Soprano praised for her expression and vibrancy through all registers of her voice. She has performed such roles as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro at Central City Opera and Drake University. During her time as a Resident Artist at Opera Colorado ’25-’26 she perfomed as Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Flora in La Traviata, Stephano in Romeo et Juliette, and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance. During her time at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Drake University she performed in roles such as Hesione in Triumph of Love, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Serse from Serse, Zanetto from Mascagni’s Zanetto, and Hansel in Hansel und Gretel. She has also done cover and chorus work for companies such as Opera Parallel in Harvey Milk Reimagined, Pocket Operas The Cunning little Vixen, Des Moines Metro Operas Die Zauberflote as Drei Dame, and Anchorage Opera. Jordan has been awarded Encouragement Awards at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont competition during both 2025 and 2026.
Second Place: $5000 LISA CURTIS & KATHY AND PETER VAN ARSDALE AWARD
Nisha Patel Caiozzi, 25, Soprano
Soprano Nisha Caiozzi spent the summer of 2025 at Central City Opera where she covered and performed The Nightingale in Once Upon a Mattress, sang in the chorus of The Knock, and in the scenes programs. In 2024 she was a finalist in Bard’s Concerto Competition and placed second at the song SLAM Competition where she performed with a partially improvised art song of her own composition and poetry in collaboration with Michael Yang-Wierenga. She was an Encouragement Award winner at the 2026 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Other recent performances include Bards production of Orphee aux enfers (Cupidon), Shir Hashirim (Lily) at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, and various opera scenes with the Bel Canto Institute in Tuscany.
Third Place: $4500 GERI SHELDON AWARD
Sidney Grimm, 24, Soprano
Sidney Grimm received her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Central Washington University. She was awarded Central Washington University’s College of Arts and Humanities Award for Achievement in Arts or Performance. She is currently working on her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Colorado Boulder. Roles include Gretel from Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel,” Littler Daughter from Missy Mazzoli’s “Proving Up,” and Cupid from Jacques Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld”.
Fourth Place: $4000 GAYLE LANDIS AWARD and Marcia Ragonetti Exceptional Mezzo Award $500
Natacha Condor, 31, Mezzo-Soprano
Natacha Condor, 31, Mezzo-Soprano
Natacha Cóndor is a versatile Ecuadorian mezzo-soprano with extensive experience in Latin American popular music and a growing presence in opera. Recent highlights include La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), and Dido (Dido and Aeneas) with Lamont Opera Theatre, as well as Wowkle (La Fanciulla del West) with Central City Opera. She has also appeared as Flora (La Traviata), El Gato (El Gato con Botas), and Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Her awards include the Marcia Ragonetti Exceptional Mezzo Award, and the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Award (2025), and First Place in the Ann Logan Craft Voice Competition and Outstanding Young Artist Award from Central City Opera (2024). In 2025 she will perform the role of Frida in Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World with Central City Opera’s Education Department. Currently completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, Natacha continues to build her artistry with passion and dedication.
Fifth Place: $3500 TOM AND MARY CONROY AWARD
Daniel Miller, 28, Tenor
Tenor Daniel Miller, a native of Arvada, CO, is thrilled to return to Opera Colorado’s roster of talented Artists in Residence for the 2025-26 Season. Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado and a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. This season, he will perform in La traviata (Gastone) on the Ellie Caulkins mainstage, as well as in Opera Colorado’s touring productions of Romeo & Juliet (Romeo) and The Pirates of Penzance (Frederic). In 2025, he was an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera’s Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists, where he covered the role of Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. He has previously appeared in a wide range of opera and musical theater productions, including Les Misérables (Jean Valjean), The Magic Flute (Tamino), Albert Herring (The Mayor), and Little Women (Laurie).
Sixth Place: $3000 CAROLE JOHNSON AWARD
Hallie Schmidt, 28, Soprano
American soprano Hallie Schmidt began her 2025-2026 season with a return to Pacific Northwest Opera as Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo. She will then reprise her favorite role of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos the following spring also at PNO. During the summer of 2025, Hallie was an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera, where she performed in The Flying Dutchman, The Cunning Little Vixen, and The Rake’s Progress. An avid lover of producing, Hallie also directed and led Olympia Opera Theatre’s first festival in August of 2025, where she is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder. Hallie was engaged for the 2024-2025 season as an Artist in Residence at Opera Colorado. There she covered Marie in The Daughter of the Regiment, as well as sang the student matinee, followed by Musetta (study cover) in La Bohème, and Inez in the spring concert production of Il Trovatore. In April 2026, Hallie will be performing the role of Zerbinetta in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos.
Seventh Place: $2500 MARCIA RAGONETTI AWARD
Regan Lewis, 25, Soprano
Regan Lewis, soprano, is a Denver-based performer and graduate of the University of Denver, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance. She recently appeared in the choruses of La Traviata with Opera Colorado and La bohème at the Aspen Music Festival, and has also performed in Il trovatore, La bohème, and La fille du régiment with Opera Colorado. At Lamont Opera Theatre, her roles include Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), and La Princesse (L’enfant et les sortilèges), in addition to covering Pamina and performing scenes as Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Anne Boleyn (Anna Bolena). She has also appeared as Water in Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince. In concert, she has been featured as soprano soloist in Bach’s Cantata BWV 4 with the Lamont Chorale, and with the Cal Pops Orchestra under Kim Venaas. She has also appeared as a soloist at the Kennedy Center through the Washington National Opera Institute. She will appear this spring as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Lamont Opera Theatre.
Certificate of Merit: $1000.00 LISA CURTIS IN HONOR OF BECKY GANTNER
Kirby Baier, 30, Soprano
Kerby is a classical/crossover soprano based in Denver, Colorado who has a passion for performing and teaching. Recently, Kerby performed the role of Zerlina in Don Giovanni at Opera Colorado. She also sang Adina in their touring production of Elixir of Love and Tisbe in a tour of Cinderella. Other recent credits include Don Giovanni at North Carolina Opera, a soloist with the Raleigh Camerata at the 2023 HIP music festival, and This is my Letter to the World, a song recital of Emily Dickinson Poetry in 2022. In the past she has enjoyed the roles of Blanche in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Anne Egerman in A Little Night Music, Poppea in The Coronation of Poppea, Portia (u/s) in Something Rotten!, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, Cosette in Les Misérables, and Penny in Hairspray. . She is also a member of Servire, a professional vocal ensemble.
Certificate of Merit: $1000.00 LINDA YOUNG IN MEMORY OF EUGENE YOUNG
Samantha Leeper, 23, Tenor
Samantha is a lyric tenor from the Pacific Northwest, and has delighted stages both locally and internationally. She is a fast learner, able to thrive in tight production turnarounds and fast-paced staging environments. Her skills as an actress and vocalist have been commended by both teachers and colleagues, and she prides herself on being flexible, and easy to work with. Samantha has performed in numerous summer education program productions, including the role of Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro with the International Bel Canto Academy, Laurie in Mark Adamo’s Little Women with Vienna Summer Music Festival, and Tamino Die Zauberflöte with Tokyo Opera Studio. This year, she is making her professional debut as a cover for Alfred in Inland Northwest Opera’s production of Die Fledermaus. Outside of opera, Samantha loves spending time backpacking in the mountains, honing her skills at specialty coffee brewing, and spending time with her cat at home.
Certificate of Merit: JULIE JOHNSTON IN $1000.00 MEMORY OF HARRY WILLIAMS AWARD
Bella Mallow, 30, Mezzo-Soprano
Bella Mallow is a professional mezzo-soprano and Denver native. After graduating with her master’s degree in vocal performance from Louisiana State University in 2020, she relocated back to her home state of Colorado and began her career as a performer. She has since enjoyed professional engagements with Opera Louisiane, Boulder Opera, Opera Ft. Collins, Opera Colorado, Loveland Opera Theatre, and Central City Opera, among others. When not on stage, she has facilitated the marketing and social media presence of multiple local companies in the wedding, events and fitness industries. Bella is currently the marketing director for Art Song Colorado.
Certificate of Merit: $1000.00 KAREN & ANDREW RITZ IN HONOR OF KAREN BRUGGENTHIES
Kevin Spooner, 27, Bass-Baritone
Bass-Baritone Kevin Spooner’s 2025/2026 season includes his Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center debut as Leporello in Mozart’s Il Don Giovanni with Teatro Nuovo, and performing as Frère Laurent in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Park City Opera. Kevin is a 2025-26 Artist in Residence with Opera Colorado, where he performed in La traviata (Marquis d’Obigny) and Madama Butterfly (The Imperial Commissioner) on the Ellie Caulkins mainstage. This season, Kevin made his debut with the Charlottesville Symphony in Dvořák’s Mass in D Major (bass soloist) and performed at the Savannah VOICE Festival (guest recitalist). Last season, Kevin performed as the bass soloist for Bach’s Coffee Cantata, BWV 211 with the Salem Bach Festival, a featured soloist for Charlottesville Opera’s Annual Gala, the Jailor in Dello Joio’s Joan of Arc: The Trial at Rouen with Piedmont Opera, and the baritone soloist for Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with the Choral Society of Greensboro and the Oratorio Society of Virginia. Kevin received an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera – Laffont Competition in the New York City District.
Certificate of Merit: $1000.00 JACKIE WRITZ IN HONOR OF CHECK-IN VOLUNTEERS
Katiann Nelson, 25, Mezzo-Soprano
Originally from Waterford, WI, mezzo-soprano Katiann Nelson, recently graduated from CU-Boulder with her Master’s Degree in Voice Performance. In 2023,. Katiann has enjoyed recently singing “Hänsel” in Hänsel und Gretel, and her other opera credits include “Meg” in Falstaff, “Taller Daughter” in Proving Up, and “Chorus” in La Boheme (Opera Colorado, Aspen Music Festival). Over the summer, she enjoyed performing “Dritte Dame” in Die Zauberflöte with Prague Summer Nights. She recently was named as a winner of the 2026 Colorado-Wyoming Laffont Competition. Katiann looks forward to continued work with Opera Colorado as a chorister in Madama Butterfly, and looks forward to singing the role of “Mother” in Loveland Opera Theater’s Production of Little Red’s Most Unusual Day.
Meet the Judges: PRELIMINARIES – MARCH 7, 2026
CORINE HAYES
Corinne Hayes is a stage director, dramaturg and educator, and has recently been named Head of Training Programs at Central City Opera. In the 25-26 season, Corinne will make directorial debuts with Washington National Opera (Revival Director, The Little Prince) and Opera Lafayette (repertoire TBA), while continuing her tenure as Director of Acting for the Maryland Opera Studio.
This summer, she serves as Head of Training Programs at Central City Opera. In the 23-24 season, Corinne led new productions of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Annapolis Opera) and FIorencia en el Amazonas (Maryland Opera Studio). Highlights of the 22-23 season included and a new production of Don Giovanni with the Maryland Opera Studio.
In addition to her role at the university, Corinne serves as Artistic Advisor for DC-based opera theater company IN Series. Corinne’s long association with Washington National Opera includes serving as Assistant Director to Francesca Zambello (Candide, The Little Prince, et al.) and E. Loren Meeker (Don Giovanni).
CYNTHIA LAWRENCE
Recently inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, soprano Cythia Lawrence has been a principal artist at The Metropolitan Opera; Washington National Opera; Guangzhou Opera House; Royal Albert Hall, London; Lyric Opera of Chicago; Opera Colorado; Lithuanian National Opera; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Paris Opera, and many more.
Opera roles include Madama Butterfly; Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera; Roxanne in Cyrano de Bergerac; Tosca; Rosalinda, Die Fledermaus; Maddelena in Andrea Chenier; Lavinia, Mimi and Musetta, La Boheme; Micaela and Carmen, Carmen; The First Lady and Pamina, Die Zauberflöte; Fiordiligi, Cosi fan Tutte; Lady Macbeth, Verdi’s Macbeth; Dolly, Sly; Liú, Turandot; and Marguerite, Faust..
She performed over 70 times with Luciano Pavarotti. A DVD “A Tribute to Pavarotti: One Amazing Weekend in Petra” features her performances and tribute to Pavarotti. She appeared in concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Lima, Peru, and Martingy, Switzerland.
Ms. Lawrence is a professor of Music Performance, Voice at the University of Kentucky.
KATHERINE PRACHT
Soprano Katherine Pracht has established herself as a leading opera singing actress, performing with such prestigious companies as Virginia Opera, Central City Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and Opera Philadelphia.
Pracht’s repertoire spans from baroque to modern American opera, with a focus on new works. She has performed in over 30 operas composed after 1945, including the 2023 premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s and Lida Moore’s February. Other notable contemporary operas include Puts’ Elizabeth Cree, Heggie’s Three Decembers, and Spears’ Fellow Travelers. She recently starred in Central City Opera’s production of The Knock.
In 2023 Ms. Pracht joined the faculty of Bowling Green University as an Assistant Professor of Voice.
Meet the Judges: FINALS – MARCH 21, 2026
TROY COOK
American baritone Troy Cook made notable debuts in past seasons as Ford in Hamburgische Staatsoper’s Falstaff, following his debut with the company as Marcello in La bohème, and with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte.
2025-2026 season engagements include Marcello in La bohème with Austin Opera, Handel’s Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a return to The Metropolitan Opera, covering Gerhard in the company’s season-opening premiere of The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. He performed as baritone soloist for Carmina Burana with the Grant Park Festival, Oregon Symphony Orchestra and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
Troy’s 2024-2025 season began with his home company, Opera Philadelphia, singing the role of Paul Devon in the North American premiere of The Listeners. A champion of new music, he bowed in Virginia Opera’s world premiere, Loving v. Virginia (Geter/Murphy Moo), portraying ACLU attorney Bernard Cohen. Cook joined Spoleto Festival USA reprising the role of Athanael in a newly produced concert version of Thaïs. Also during the season, Cook revived his hugely popular Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance for Knoxville Opera, sang Giorgio Germont in Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s performances
of La traviata (conducted by JoAnn Falletta), joined the American Symphony Orchestra for a concert of works by C.P.E. Bach, and sang Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra
CHRISTOPHER KOELZER
Solo and collaborative pianist Dr. Christopher Koelzer hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, and performs, records, music directs, and coaches regularly in the New York City, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay areas. Christopher began collaborating in opera, musical theater, and chamber music at age 13, working with Mission City Opera in Santa Clara, CA, and Lyric Theater of San Jose, CA. Christopher received his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance, studying with Dr. Irene Peery-Fox at Brigham Young University, where he coached and performed in the Opera department during his entire degree. He holds Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music Degrees in Collaborative Piano from University of Maryland, College Park. Christopher currently teaches and performs as Music Faculty and Lecturer at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Stanford University, and San José State University.
Christopher has been invited to perform across the world as a solo and collaborative pianist. He received an Oscarson Grant to attend the International Music Academy at Plzen, Czech Republic in 2009. He attended Aspen Music Festival and School with full scholarship from 2011-2012, returning as Vocal Fellow in 2014. He was awarded Outstanding Collaborative Pianist Award and Grand Prize Art Song in the Metropolitan International Music Festival Competition in New York, 2016 with mezzo-soprano Nicole Lévèsque. D.C., a performance that collaborated with Hong Kong Ballet and Terra Firma Dance Company. Christopher joined the Merola Opera Program for its 2019 season as Apprentice Coach, premiering Jake Heggie’s If I Were You.
JENNIFER ROWLEY
Soprano Jennifer Rowley is acclaimed worldwide for her unforgettable voice and remarkable stage presence, singing
a richly varied repertoire that includes many of opera’s greatest heroines. Her 2025/26 season brings three role debuts: the fierce Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth at the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova, Turandot with Florida Grand Opera, and Maddalena di Coigny in Giordano’s Andrea Chenier at the Metropolitan Opera. She will begin the 2025/26 season at the Kennedy Center, singing the title role in Verdi’s Aida with Washington National Opera. Ms. Rowley will then perform Madama Butterfly with the Dallas Symphony, both in Dallas and at Bravo! Vail.
Ms. Rowley is an avid mentor to the next generation of opera’s young artists, carrying the torch from her mentor Martina Arroyo. As the founder and director of Aria Bootcamp Ms. Rowley has created a young artist program focused on giving world class training to emerging professional operatic artists. Ms. Rowley holds an annual artist residency at her alma mater, Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music, and is currently on the voice faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Audiences will remember Jennifer Rowley’s triumphant Metropolitan Opera role debut as Roxane in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac (2017) which inspired universal critical praise. The New York Times raved that this was a “break-through moment,” further adding that for the heartbreaking final scene, “Ms. Rowley sang with an intensity of expression and a subtly embittered sound that suggested a singer for enormous gift and promise.”
