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George & Nora London Foundation for Singers in 2025-26: 54th Annual Competition and a Recital by Shelén Hughes Camacho and Joseph Parrish
George and Nora London Foundation for Singers Presents Its 54th Annual Competition and a Recital by Two 2025 George London Winners, Shelén Hughes Camacho, Soprano, and Joseph Parrish, Baritone, in the 2025-26 Season
Both events take place at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center
Shelén Hughes Camacho and Joseph Parrish
The 2025-26 season of the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers will present the 54th year of the foundation’s prestigious annual competition for young American and Canadian opera singers, and a recital by two winners of the 2025 competition’s George London Award: rising stars soprano Shelén Hughes Camacho and baritone Joseph Parrish.
The foundation’s events will take place at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center.
The George and Nora London Foundation and the George London Award are named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the great opera singers of 20th century, and his wife, Nora, who led the foundation for more than three decades.
The George and Nora London Foundation Competition Final Round is a public event that will take place on Friday, February 20, 2026, at 4:00 pm at which approximately a dozen singers compete for five George London Awards of $12,000 each. Those finalists who do not receive George London Awards receive Encouragement Awards of $2,000. As The New York Times has noted, “this prestigious competition … can rightfully claim to act as a springboard for major careers in opera.” The judges are Harolyn Blackwell, James Morris, Dimitri Pittas, and Susan Quittmeyer, and Gayletha Nichols is the jury chair. John Arida is the event’s pianist.
Shelén Hughes Camacho, soprano, and Joseph Parrish, baritone, perform a joint recital on Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 7:30 pm with Amir Farid, piano. These singers, who were two of the five 2025 George London Award winners, will present a program focusing on the lesser-performed gems – arias, songs, and duets – of some of our most beloved composers.
Described by Opera News variously as a “stand out soprano” with an “arresting stage presence” and a “kaleidoscopic” voice, Shelén Hughes Camacho in July made her Cleveland Orchestra debut at the Blossom Festival. Of his performance in Juilliard’s production of Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, Parterre Box said, “Joseph Parrish was all silky snarls, his dark eyes at first aglow with sweetness that quickly curdled into something acrid as his monstrous nature was slowly revealed. Parrish displayed a painterly touch on his instrument; the ability to effortlessly slide from laugh to hiss to growl and back to rich singing. … In their climactic final scene, [tenor Andrew] Turner and Parrish were simply riveting.”
Shelén Hughes Camacho sang the “Snow Maiden’s Aria” from Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden to win her George London Award. Watch the performance here.
Joseph Parrish sang “A dream wasted” from William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA for his George London Award-winning performance. Watch it here.
George London and the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers
George London (1920-1985) was one of the greatest opera stars of the 20th century, who blazed a trail for American singers on the international stage and created some of the most indelible interpretations of prominent bass-baritone roles. In his later years, he devoted much of his time and energy to the support and nurturing of young singers, in partnership with his wife, Nora (1924-2022). Since 1971, the foundation’s annual competition has given more than 300 awards, and a total of more than $2 million, to an outstanding roster of young American and Canadian opera singers who have gone on to international stardom – the list of past winners includes Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Ryan Speedo Green, Catherine Malfitano, James Morris, Eric Owens, Dimitri Pittas, Matthew Polenzani, Sondra Radvanovsky, Neil Shicoff, Dawn Upshaw, and Willard White, to name just a few. As The New York Times noted, “this prestigious competition … can rightfully claim to act as a springboard for major careers in opera.” See the full list of George London Award winners: https://www.georgeandnoralondon.org/competition.html
In addition to the annual competition, the George and Nora London Foundation also presents a recital series to give grantees exposure and experience, and, in many cases, a New York recital debut. The foundation also awards scholarships to promising high school students attending the pre-college program of The Juilliard School, a program now in its 12th year.
Shelén Hughes Camacho is passionate about both music and social impact. The 28-year-old native of Cochabamba, Bolivia, in June made her European debut at Frankfurt Opera as Morgana in Alcina and performed at the Blossom Music Festival, singing in Carmina Burana with The Cleveland Orchestra in July. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School, she received the 2024 Florence and Paul DeRosa Prize and won first place in the Zarzuela/Operetta division of the Gerda Lissner Competition. She is also a 2024 Opera Index winner, a semifinalist in the Concours de Genève, and a finalist in the Renata Tebaldi Competition. Hughes Camacho has performed leading roles at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Perelman Arts Center, and with the New York Festival of Song, making her Carnegie Hall debut in 2019. Beyond the stage, she is the founder of Voices for Bolivia, an international nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of elderly Bolivians in extreme poverty through classical music. www.shelenhughescamacho.com
Joseph Parrish has quickly established himself in the classical music world, performing at renowned venues such as the Salzburger Festspiele, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall. The 27-year-old Baltimore native performed at the 2025 Caramoor Festival, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s led by Rafael Payare, and earlier in the year sang the part of Christus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion led by Kent Tritle at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In 2024-25, he made debuts with the Oratorio Society of New York, MasterVoices, and Town Hall NYC. In June 2024, he debuted as Masetto in Don Giovanni with Cincinnati Opera and as Potapitsch in The Gambler with the Salzburger Festspiele. Joseph holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and The Juilliard School, where he participated in the Gluck Community Service Fellowship Program and the Music Advancement Program. He is a frequent collaborator with the Denyce Graves Foundation and Voices for Bolivia. www.joseph-parrish.com
George and Nora London Foundation for Singers 2025-26 Season
Friday, February 20, 2026, at 4:00 pm
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center
54th ANNUAL GEORGE AND NORA LONDON FOUNDATION COMPETITION
Final Round and Awards Announcement
Tickets: $55, $25 for students and seniors
Thursday, April 30, 2026, at 7:30 pm
Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center
George and Nora London Foundation Recital
SHELÉN HUGHES CAMACHO, Soprano
Amir Farid, piano
A program focusing on the lesser-performed gems – arias, songs, and duets – of some of our most beloved composers. Details to be announced.
Tickets: $55, $25 for students and seniors
Tickets and information: info@georgelondon.org
George and Nora London Foundation for Singers
157 Columbus Ave., Ste. 519
New York, NY 10023
John Hauser, President
Marina London, Vice President
Eric London Wollberg, Treasurer
Marc D. London, Secretary
August 6, 2025
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