The 2024 International Opera Awards were presented at Munich’s Prinzregententheater on 2 October. Among the artists recognised was Australian conductor Simone Young, awarded Conductor of the Year for her recent work in venues including La Scala, Vienna State Opera, and at the Bayreuth Festival, where she became the first Australian to conduct.

Simone Young. Photo © Sydney Symphony Orchestra/Peter Brew-Bevan

Now in its 11th edition, the International Opera Awards is the only global event dedicated to celebrating opera’s impact across every aspect of the art form, from its performers to its philanthropists and institutions.

Hosted by the BBC’s Petroc Trelawny, the ceremony featured performances by the Bayerische Staatsorchester, under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski, Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón Cruz (winner of the 2024 Readers’ Award) and Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir and Justin Austin, co-winners of the 2024 Rising Star Award.

Other major winners included Komische Oper Berlin, which took home the Opera Company of the Year award for the second time, and American soprano Lisette Oropesa, who won Female Singer of the Year. French tenor Benjamin Bernheim was named Male Singer of the Year.