Les Arts will bring together leading professionals in the sector in Spain, Portugal and Latin America at the VII Opera XXI Awards Gala

• Ramon Gener presents this event, directed by Emilio López from Valencia and featuring performances by the best opera singers in our country.
• Carles Alfaro's production of 'Tránsito' and Valencian Silvia Tro Santafé's 'Maria Stuarda' were among the awards given by Les Arts

Valencia (May 22, 2025). The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía will host the awards ceremony for the seventh edition of the Ópera XXI, the Spanish opera awards, on June 17, starting at 7:30 p.m. The event will bring together leading professionals in the sector from Spain, Portugal, and Latin America.

Ramon Gener will act as master of ceremonies for the event, which has the creative direction of the Valencian Emilio López, and which will intertwine the awarding of prizes with different performances by several of the best lyric artists in our country.

The Opera XXI Awards are distributed across fifteen categories, recognizing singers, musical directors, stage directors, and creative professionals of Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American nationality, as well as initiatives for the dissemination and recovery of Spanish operatic heritage in Spanish theaters, festivals, and established opera and zarzuela seasons. The awards acknowledge their contribution to operatic activity during the period from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2024 (2023-2024 Season).

The artists, creatives and initiatives awarded at the seventh edition of Ópera XXI, who will receive their award in Valencia, are:

• Award for Musical Direction: Pablo Heras-Casado, for directing Wagner's opera 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' at the Teatro Real in April and May 2024.
• Stage Direction Award: Calixto Bieito, for the opera 'Lear', by Aribert Reimann, at the Teatro Real in January and February 2024.

• Best Singer Award (male category): bass-baritone Simón Orfila, for Escamillo in Bizet's 'Carmen', at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in January 2024 and at the Baluarte Foundation in February 2024. As well as for Zaccaria in Verdi's opera 'Nabucco', at the Teatro de la Maestranza in June 2024; Ramfis in Verdi's 'Aida', in A Coruña in September 2023, Ataülf in Jaume Pahissa's opera 'Gal·la Placídia', and Andrés in Sorozábal's zarzuela 'Juan José', both at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in March and April 2024.
• Best Singer Award (female category): mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafé, for Elisabetta in Donizetti's 'Maria Stuarda', at Les Arts in December 2023.
• Best Young Singer Award: baritone Jan Antem for 'The Telephone' by Gian Carlo Menotti at the Peralada Festival in August 2023 and for Dancaïre in 'Carmen' by Bizet at the Liceu in January 2024.

• Award for best foreign artist for his special contribution to opera in Spain during the 2023-2024 season: bass-baritone Gerald Finley, for Antony in 'Antony & Cleopatra' by John Adams, at the Liceu in October 2023, and for Hans Sachs in 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg' by Wagner, at the Teatro Real in April and May 2024.
• Award for best stage design: Alfons Flores, for his work on 'Carmen', at the Liceu, in January 2024.

• Award for best lighting design: Albert Faura for his work in the opera 'La bella Susona', by Alberto Carretero, at the Teatro de la Maestranza in March 2024, in the zarzuelas 'La rosa del azafrán', by Jacinto Guerrero, and 'La verbena de la Paloma', by Bretón, at the Teatro de la Zarzuela and at the Festival of Spanish Lyric Theatre of Oviedo at the Teatro Campoamor; in Verdi's 'La traviata', at the Oviedo Opera, in December 2023, and in Mozart's 'Così fan tutte', at the Teatro Calderón in Valladolid, in February 2024.
• Award for best costume design: Gabriela Salaverri, for 'La verbena de la Paloma', by Bretón, Teatro de la Zarzuela, May 2024.
• Award for best video creation proposal: Joan Fontcuberta, for his work 'Winterreise', by Schubert, at the Liceu, in February 2024.
• Impulso Award for the best proposal of new contemporary lyric creation: 'Tránsito', by Jesús Torres, in the new production by Carles Alfaro, premiered at the Palau de les Arts in May 2024.
• Award for New Lyric Production: 'Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg', by Wagner, at the Teatro Real, with stage direction by Laurent Pelly, premiered at the Teatro Real in April 2024, produced in co-production with the Royal Danish Opera and the National Theatre Brno.
• Award for the Best Initiative or Project that contributes to the dissemination of operatic activity: Escola d'Òpera de Sabadell.
• Spanish Lyric Heritage Award for best initiative, performer, direction or production of Spanish lyric repertoire: the opera 'Gal·la Placídia', with music and libretto in Catalan by the composer himself, Jaume Pahissa, recovered by the Teatro de la Zarzuela in March 2024 (the world premiere took place in 1913 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu).
• Best Latin American Production Award, an award in collaboration with Opera Latinoamérica OLA: the production of 'Tosca' that the Municipal Theater of Santiago (Chile) premiered in August 2024, with stage direction by Francisco Krebs, set design and costumes by Pablo Núñez and lighting by Ricardo Castro.

Prestigious music critics and journalists working both within and outside of Spain formed the jury for the 7th Opera XXI Awards: Fernando Sans Rivière, Pablo Meléndez-Haddad, Javier Pérez Senz, Maricel Chavarría Espuny, Alejandro Martínez Rodríguez, Ana Vega Toscano, Pablo L. Rodríguez, Gonzalo Alonso, Justo Romero, Victoria Stapells, Richard Martet, and Ricardo da Rocha (Portugal). Also present during the deliberations were the president of Opera XXI, Isamay Benavente, the awards coordinator, Miriam Perandones, and the association's secretary, Jorge Culla.

The awards represent an initiative of the Opera XXI Association, currently made up of 27 theaters, seasons and festivals, to recognize the intense lyrical activity in Spain, as well as the artistic and creative talent that can be enjoyed on Spanish stages season after season.