The Opera Foundation for Young Australians has named mezzo-soprano Lyla Levy-Jordan the winner of the 2025 Lady Fairfax La Scala Opera Award. The Sydney-born Australian-French singer receives a package valued at about $35,000 and will join Teatro alla Scala in Milan for four months of cover roles, performance opportunities and coaching from March 2026.

Lyla Levy-Jordan. Portrait © Jacob Schad

A graduate of the Artist Masters program at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Levy-Jordan has trained in masterclasses with leading artists including Thomas Hampson, Graham Johnson, Susan Manoff and Malcolm Martineau. Her repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary work, with recent appearances including Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Australia’s Young Artist Program and Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Guildhall.

She has also performed with the Melbourne Recital Centre, Barbican Centre, Pierre Boulez Saal and the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano. Her accolades include the 2024 Lady Galleghan London Award, the Chartered Surveyors Vocal Prize and runner-up placings at the Great Romantics Competition and Sydney International Song Prize. She has been a finalist in major competitions in Munich, Den Bosch, London and Sydney, supported by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust and Hazell Scholarship Fund.

The Foundation also announced five additional award recipients: Georgia Melville (Michael Byrne Vienna State Opera Award), Sophie Salvesani (Deutsche Oper Berlin Award), Nicholas Geddes (Lady Galleghan London Award), Rebecca Hart (Sundell AIMs Award) and conductor Leonard Weiss (Berlin Music Opera Award).