MetOpera Concurso Winners Concert 2026

Some of the greatest singers of the Metropolitan Opera joined the Met roster through the company’s audition program for young North Americans – among them Renee Fleming, Thomas Hampson, Joyce DiDonato, and Jessye Norman. Today the audition program is known as the Laffont Competition.
Less than a decade ago, the Met expanded the competition to Mexico. This opened the doors for young Mexican singers in large numbers to be seen and heard internationally. The San Miguel MetOpera Trust, A.C. (SMMT) was incorporated in 2019 to oversee the Mexico District of the Laffont Competition.
On Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 4:30pm, you will be able to hear the outstanding young voices of three of the 2025 Laffont winners that the SMMT has proudly sponsored: Kathia Alejandra, soprano; Fernando Alonzo, tenor; and Esaú Álvarez, baritone. Two previous Laffont winners who have gone on to international careers – Jacinta Barbachano, soprano, and Alejandro Luevanos, tenor – will participate in the concert. The pianist is Sergio Vazquez.
For the first time, this highly anticipated annual event will take place in an elegant new venue called the Music Pavilion.
Located in Los Frailes, at El Rio y La Paloma No. 2, the Music Pavilion is a newly restored French neoclassical performance space, modeled after a Newport, Rhode Island, summer mansion. There is plenty of off-street parking available, and parking security.
In addition to a concert of arias, duets and ensembles, with music by composers such as Mozart, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, ticket holders will be invited to enjoy champagne and hors d’oeuvres in the garden area of the Pavilion.
The Music Pavilion provides an intimate parlor setting, with comfortable furniture throughout. There is no stage per se; the performers circulate among the audience members. Attendance for each concert will be limited to about 50 people. There is a single VIP donation price of 2,200 pesos.