The 2023 Opera Awards winner is soprano Eleanor Greenwood.

Held for the first time since the beginning of the global pandemic, the Opera Awards auditions were held in the Eugene Goossens Hall at the ABC in Ultimo and featured the highest number of entrants in nearly two decades.

Eleanor Greenwood. Photo supplied.

Entrants sang before a panel of adjudicators comprised of composer-pianist Di Bresciani, soprano Cheryl Barker, baritone José Carbó and conductor Simon Kenway.

At the end of a long day, Greenwood was announced the winner of what is a substantial prize package: the Youth Music Foundation (YMF) award of $30,000 sponsored by Youth Music Foundation Australia; and the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship of $4,500, sponsored by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust.

“I am incredibly honoured to be the recipient of this prestigious award and I am so grateful for the support I will receive in furthering my career,” said Greenwood on hearing of her win. “The chance to work with artists who have interpreted and performed important spinto/dramatic roles at the highest level internationally, and the chance to work with leading music coaches overseas on such repertoire, is an absolutely...