Soprano Madison Leonard (photo, second from left), a second-year master of music student at the Bienen School of Music, has won first place in Houston Grand Opera’s 28th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. She receives a $10,000 prize.

A student of Bienen associate professor of voice Karen Brunssen, Leonard was named winner of the competition at the annual Concert of Arias on Thursday, February 4, at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston. She performed Massenet’s “Je suis encore tout étourdie,” and Emily’s aria from Rorem's “Our Town.”

Now in its 28th year, the Eleanor McCollum competition received 475 applications from singers around the globe. Auditions were conducted in cities across the United States for the prestigious competition. Leonard advanced to the top 14 semifinalists in the competition and was then one of eight finalists invited to compete in the Concert of Arias.

A native of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Leonard is an alumna of Pepperdine University and will complete her master of music degree from Northwestern this spring. She has previously appeared as Susanna in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro,” Geraldine in Barber’s “A Hand of Bridge,” Ginevra in Handel’s “Ariodante,” Kitty Hart in Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” and Madame Herz in Mozart’s “The Impresario.”

At the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, Leonard performed the role of Monica in Menotti’s “The Medium,” covered Norina in Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale,” and portrayed Gretel in Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel,” receiving praise for “the best vocal performance of the entire evening” (Mark Rudio’s “A Beast in a Jungle.”) She was also a finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for the Illinois district and received first place in the Central Region National Association of Teachers of Singing competition.

Leonard will perform in an upcoming concert at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on February 16 as part of the Kennedy Center’s Conservatory Project. The event will be streamed live at 5 p.m. CST. Learn more about this event. 

Leonard will also appear in the Bienen School’s upcoming opera, Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro,” February 25-28, in Cahn Auditorium. Learn more about this event.