MEET OUR 2021 JUDGES

DAVID LOMELÍ joined The Dallas Opera in 2014 as artistic coordinator and was named director of artistic administration in 2018. Effective in 2021 he was named casting director for the Bavarian State Opera and in May of 2021 Mr. Lomelí was appointed Chief Artistic Officer at the Santa Fe Opera. As the first manager of Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors, Mr. Lomelí recruited over 400 conductors from more than 30 countries to apply, as well as 50 US women administrators. Before joining TDO, Mr. Lomelí performed as a tenor with many of the world’s leading companies including the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Glyndebourne Festival, Santa Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and San Francisco Opera. He earned an undergraduate degree in computer science engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, and a graduate degree in international marketing from la Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. He is a recipient of the National Youth Prize in the Arts, presented by the Mexican government, and won first prize in the categories of opera and zarzuela in Plácido Domingo’s 2006 Operalia. Mr. Lomelí is an alumnus of some of the most prestigious training programs for opera artists: the Domingo- Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program at LA Opera, the Merola Opera Program, and Adler Fellowship at the San Francisco Opera, and the International Society of Mexican Art and Values in Mexico City.

http://davidlomeli.com/

Mr. Walsh judges for the Met Competition throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Aside from the Competition season, he presents master classes and hears young artists in auditions both at the Met and at various summer festivals across the country. Since producing the Met Competition’s 2020-2021 virtual season, Mr. Walsh was brought on as a producer for the 2021 Queen Sonja International Music Competition, as well as for the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music’s Corbett Competition. In 2019, he was named a special guest for the finals of the inaugural Nicola Martinucci International Vocal Competition in Lucca, Italy and was a technician at the 2020 NATS National Conference in New York, where he co-presented with Melissa Wegner their workshop “The Self-Assured Singer,” also offered at SUNY Potsdam. 

Walsh is the Owner and Artistic Director of Carpe Diem Theater in Round Lake, NY, having previously served as Music Director from 2011-2014. Carpe Diem maintains annual enrollment of over 100 campers and staff that participate in leadership training and a catalogue of progressive and accessible musical theater programs that were conceived by Walsh and company.

Before joining the Metropolitan Opera’s artistic department in 2018, Brady worked in the managerial department of Opus 3 Artists and in the artistic department of the Santa Fe Opera (SFO). Highlights of his time with SFO include expanding their annual apprentice showcase attendance by 30% and assisting in the development of the world premiere of Mason Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. 

Walsh holds bachelor’s degrees in Music Education and Music Business and a certificate of Vocal Performance from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. As a performer, he has appeared in leading roles in regional and community theater productions across the New York City area and is also an avid writer, with both screen and stage projects in development.

YVETTE LOYNAZ is an accomplished arts administrator, fundraiser, educator, producer,  performing artist, and activist dedicated to advancing artistic excellence, education, and the  sustainability of the arts through equity, diversity, and inclusion. She currently serves as  the Director of Artistic Administration at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) in Saint  Louis, Missouri, where she oversees all artistic activities, including OTSL’s spring festival  season, commissions, artistic programming for community and education programs, and  special events. 

Before joining OTSL, Yvette served as the Director of Individual Giving at New World  Symphony (NWS) in Miami Beach, FL. She also worked as an opera singer and producer in  Europe launching and curating innovative multi-genre programs, new works, and creating  access and community around the arts. During that time, she founded and served as the  Artistic Director of Bang-up! Opera, a global pop-up opera troupe of multicultural,  international artists working to reimagine opera. Under her leadership, the troupe went on to perform over one hundred shows across Europe, Scandinavia, and Mexico in its first  three seasons and established key partnerships with opera houses and festivals like La  Monnaie, Opera Vlaanderen, Festival van Vlaanderen, and Grachtenfestival. 

She has also served as the Administrative Director and Voice Faculty of the Manhattan  School of Music Precollege Division where she oversaw admissions, curriculum development, recruitment, evaluation of students and faculty, and taught art song  repertoire classes and private voice lessons.  

A native of Miami and daughter of Cuban immigrants, Yvette began her musical studies on the piano under the tutelage of her mother who was classically trained in Cuba. She is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and the Operastudio Vlaanderen in Ghent, Belgium. She is an alumna of the young artist programs at the former Bel Canto at Caramoor International Music Festival (Teatro Nuovo), Glimmerglass Festival, and Aspen Opera Theater Center at Aspen Music Festival. She is also an alumna of the Sphinx Organization’s LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts, and Diversity) program, a two-year professional empowerment program for arts leaders of color, and the Hart Institute of Women Conductors and Administrators at Dallas Opera.

‍

https://yvetteloynaz.com/