The winners of the 2023 International Opera Awards were announced in Poland overnight in a ceremony hosted at Teatr Wielki, Warsaw.

Now in its 10th year, the International Opera Awards celebrate operatic talent from around the world while raising funds and awareness for the Opera Awards Foundation, which supports aspiring operatic artists.

The evening included a tribute to last year’s Opera Company winners (the houses of Lviv and Odesa) which were unable to host tonight’s event due to the ongoing war in Ukraine: Ukrainian baritone Nazar Mykulyak performed an aria from Yuliy Meitus’ opera Stolen Happiness – the first performance of this music west of Ukraine.

Juliana Grigoryan performs at International Opera Awards 2023. Photo © Krzysztof Bieliński

Australia’s Barrie Kosky was awarded Best Director. His productions include an acclaimed Dialogues of the Carmelites at Glyndebourne and a Ring Cycle at Covent Garden.

The American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. A leading lady at the Metropolitan Opera for 26 years, Horne performed in over 1300 recitals and released over 100 recordings.

Other winners included Sir Antonio Pappano,winning the Conductor Award for the second time after being the first ever recipient of the award back in 2013. The Opera Magazine Readers’ Award was presented to American soprano Nadine Sierra in the only award of the evening voted for by the public.

The Bayerische Staatsoper were also second time winners of the Opera Company of the Year, having previously won the accolade in 2018. The German company also won the New Production Award for its recent staging of Prokofiev’s War and Peace.

Michael Spyres collected the Male Singer Award; soprano Aigul Akhmetshina won the Female Singer Award. The Young Singer Award was presented to the Polish baritone Andrzej Filończyk.