Kathleen O’Mara and Meridian Prall Win Top Prizes at the Queen Sonja Singing Competition

American singers Kathleen O’Mara (soprano) and Meridian Prall (mezzo-soprano) have won First and Second Prize at the 2025 Queen Sonja Singing Competition in Oslo, Norway. In a grand final concert attended by Her Majesty Queen Sonja—who personally presented the awards—O’Mara and Prall stood out among 40 of the world’s leading young singers.

The Queen Sonja Singing Competition, held biennially, is one of the world’s foremost platforms for launching international opera careers, offering participants not only prizes but also coaching, masterclasses, and global exposure.

O’Mara’s triumph follows a string of notable successes, including First Prize and the Birgit Nilsson Prize at the 2024 Operalia Competition, membership in LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, and debuts at The Metropolitan Opera (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Berta) and San Diego Opera (La bohème, Mimì). She also appeared in concert with the LA Philharmonic in excerpts from Carmen conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl, and with The Dallas Opera for their annual Holiday Concert.

Prall, a 2024 Grand Finals Winner of The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, received the 2023 Rose Bampton Award from The Sullivan Foundation. She performed with The Atlanta Opera (Die Zauberflöte, Dritte Dame), at Hudson Hall in R. B. Schlather’s production of Giulio Cesare (Cornelia), with Washington Concert Opera (La clemenza di Tito, Annio), and with the Toledo Symphony as alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

Congratulations to both Kathleen and Meridian on this extraordinary international achievement.