As part of the Butler Opera Center, and led by its visionary director, Tamar Sanikidze, the competition promotes the center’s mission of crafting the next generation of opera professionals. The competition’s judging panel unites the most influential experts in opera, representing many of the world’s leading opera companies and training institutions. Made possible by the support of Dr. Ernest and Mrs. Sarah Butler, over $35,000 in prize money and encouragement awards will be presented at this year’s competition. 

Judges 

Colin Brush, Houston Grand Opera 

Dominic Domingo, San Diego Opera & Askonas Holt 

Paul Hopper, LA Opera 

David Lomelí, Santa Fe Opera 

Lee Anne Myslewski, Wolf Trap Opera & OPERA America 

Tamar Sanikidze, Butler Opera Center & Music Academy of the West 

Pianists 

James Maverick, Butler School of Music 

Nino Sanikidze, Shepherd School of Music 

Competitors will be announced by the end of summer 2026.

Franz Schubert 

Die schöne Müllerin, D.795

Miles Ahead: Celebrating 100 Years of Miles Davis

Diego Rivera & Mike Sailors, directors

Farkhad Khudyev, conductor

Bion Tsang, cello

Adam Schoenberg 

Go 

Gara Garayev 

Layla and Majnun 

Antonín Dvořák 

Cello Concerto, Op. 104

Anton Nel, piano 

Sandy Yamamoto, violin 

Wilhelm Magner, viola 

Bion Tsang, cello 

Jonathan Gunn, clarinet 

Colette Valentine, piano 

Thomas Burritt, percussion 

Arlo Shultis, percussion 

W.A. Mozart 

Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 493 

Francis Poulenc 

Sonata for Clarinet and Piano 

Claude Debussy 

Première rhapsodie 

Béla Bartók 

Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Sz.110 

Music by Vincenzo Bellini

Libretto by Felice Romani

Douglas Kinney Frost, conductor

Yingmeige Xiong, stage director

Sung in Italian with English with supertitles.

David Hurd, organ 

Featuring the Butler School’s newly acquired Op. 171 continuo organ 

J.S. Bach 

Toccata and Fugue in F Major, BWV 540 

Antonio Soler 

6 Concertos for Two Organs, No. 6 

John Stanley 

Voluntary in D Major 

Rob Peters 

Sonata Festiva for Two Organs, Op. 121 

César Franck 

Choral No. 3 in A Minor, FWV 40 

Jerry F. Junkin, conductor

The Mariachi Paredes de Tejastitlán 

Jimmy Santos-Rivera, guest conductor 

Arturo Márquez, arr. Nickel 

Danzon No. 2 

H. Owen Reed 

La Fiesta Mexicana 

Arturo Márquez 

Symphony no. 5, Sinfonía Nómada (consortium premiere)

Steinway Artist Presentation

John Fremgen, bass 
Daniel Dufour, drums 
Soha Quartet

Ross Margitza 
Huckleberry 

June 3rd 

For Amelie 

For Graham 

Discovery 

A Heart Fulfilled 

Remembrance 

The Wanderer

J.D. Burnett, conductor

Page Stephens, mezzo soprano

John Corigliano 

Fern Hill 

Omar Thomas 

Shenandoah 

Inocente Carreño  

Pregúntale a ese mar 

Gerald Custer 

Innisfree 

Paul John Rudoi 

As One Sky 

Jean Sibelius, arr. Morgan 

This is My Song (Finlandia) 

Johannes Brahms 

An die Heimat, Op. 64

Farkhad Khudyev, conductor

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 

Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, Pathétique

Franz Joseph Haydn 

String Quartet in D Major, Op. 71, No. 2, Hob. III: 70 

Kevin Puts 

Home 

Giacomo Puccini 

Crisantemi 

Alberto Ginastera 

String Quartet No. 2, Op. 26

Jerry F. Junkin, conductor

Michael Lebrias & Alec Rodriguez, guest conductors 

John Williams 

Liberty Fanfare 

HyeKyung Lee 

A-ri-A-rang (premiere performance for band) 

Lucio San Pedro 

Lahing Kayumanggi (U.S. premiere) 

Zhou Tian 

Petals of Fire 

David Maslanka
​Symphony No. 2

Diego Rivera & Mike Sailors, directors
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Featuring Ulysses Owens Jr., jazz drums

Featuring 
Chamber Orchestra 
Concert Chorale 
University Chorus 

Longhorn Singers 
Bereket Middle Eastern Ensemble 
Soha Quartet 
Horn Choir 
Bassoon Ensemble 
Musical Theatre Workshop 
Jazz Combos 
Gregory Eaton, organ 

Ring in the season with the Butler School’s annual Holiday Concert with music for everyone to enjoy. You’ll hear traditional holiday carols and winter favorites across many genres, including excerpts from Bach’s Magnificat, jazz standards like “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and Hanukkah songs from Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish traditions.