Tenor Anthony León and soprano Erica Petrocelli are recognized for their contributions to the company's artistic legacy

(Los Angeles) March 11, 2025 — LA Opera has announced the 2025 recipients of the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award: tenor Anthony León and soprano Erica Petrocelli. The two singers are distinguished alumni of the company's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program and both are performing leading roles in the company's current production of Mozart's Così fan tutte.

The Stern Artist Award was established in 2021 by Eva and Marc Stern, two of the greatest champions and most dedicated supporters in the history of LA Opera. The annual award serves as an expression of gratitude to gifted artists who have made an indelible mark on LA Opera's artistic profile. This year's award recipients will receive $25,000 each.

"One of the things that Eva and I have treasured most in our involvement with LA Opera has been building personal relationships with many of the artists who have created magic on our stage," said Marc Stern. "And we've learned just how expensive it is to have a career in opera, even for well established performers. The cost involved in coaching new roles, language studies and travel—to name just a few—never goes away, and it makes us feel good to give something back to extraordinary performers with strong ties to the opera company we love. Anthony and Erica have made deep impressions on our audiences with their uncommon musicality, outstanding depth and sensitivity and remarkably beautiful voices. We are proud to honor these beloved members of the LA Opera family who have touched our hearts with their artistry and who now represent the company with distinction as they continue building successful careers."

Anthony León
Tenor Anthony León joined LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program in the 2022/23 season, making his company debut as Normanno in the season-opening production of Lucia di Lammermoor. In his two seasons with the program, he appeared in a number of supporting roles in mainstage productions: Spoletta in Tosca, Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro, Roderigo in Otello and Villager 2 / Young Man in Gabriela Lena Frank's El último sueño de Frida y Diego. While still a member of the young artist program, he made his leading role debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni in 2023. Additionally, he appeared in young artist performances as the Male Chorus in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and as Pelleas in Impressions of Pelleas, and he performed Ramses in Henry Mollicone's Moses at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.  His current appearance as Ferrando in Così fan tutte marks his first return to LA Opera as a guest artist. He will return again next spring as Fenton in Falstaff.

"My first opera experience was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion when I was around four years old," said Anthony León. "When I decided to become an opera singer, LA Opera was the beacon of inspiration that propelled me forward. Now, I consider it to be my artistic home and I feel like I'm working with friends and family when I am here. I am deeply grateful to Eva and Marc Stern for their efforts to change the world through philanthropy. Their belief in artists and the power of opera pushes the art form forward and encourages artists to be their best."

The SoCal native was a 2023 winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and he received the first prize and zarzuela prize at Operalia in 2022. His most recent engagements include Nadir in The Pearl Fishers at Cologne Opera, the Consumer in the world premiere of Ellen Reid's The Shell Trial at the Dutch National Opera, Telemaco in The Return of Ulysses    at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, several roles in L’enfant et les sortilèges at the Salzburg Festival, and concerts with the Prague Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. His future engagements include a debut with Berlin's Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Nadir in The Pearl Fishers as well as debuts with the Teatro Regio di Torino, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Glyndebourne Festival, Zürich Opera House, and many more.

Erica Petrocelli
Soprano Erica Petrocelli was a member of LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program from 2018 to 2020. She made her company debut in 2018 as Mrs. Naidoo in Satyagraha. While still a member of the young artist program, she performed two leading roles with the company: Musetta in La Bohème in 2019 and the title role in Matthew Aucoin's Eurydice in 2020. Additional LA Opera appearances during that time include Annina in La Traviata, the First Lady in The Magic Flute, and several roles in Stefano Landi's The Death of Orpheus. She has returned for guest appearances as the Shepherd in Tannhäuser,   Clorinda in La Cenerentola and Donna Clara in Zemlinsky's The Dwarf. Currently appearing as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, she will return to LA Opera in November to reprise the role of Musetta in La Bohème.

"I cannot describe what an unbelievable honor this is," said Erica Petrocelli. "This company has been my home, and I am so grateful to the Sterns and to everyone here for their constant belief in me and their support of my career. Every single thing I've done here has been so special and it's wonderful to come back home to do what I love. To Marc and Eva, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. It means so much to us as artists to have your support."

Later this season, she will perform the title role in Madama Butterfly with the Colorado Springs Symphony and Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the San Antonio Symphony. This summer, she will debut at the Bard SummerScape Festival as Jitka in Bedřich Smetana’s Dalibor. Other future engagements include covering Micaëla in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera.

She has performed Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Sarasota Opera, Pamina in The Magic Flute and Micaëla in Carmen with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Delia in Il Viaggio a Reims with Opernhaus Zürich. Recent concert appearances include Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and at the Cincinnati May Festival, Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Peoria Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Florida Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Aspen Music Festival and School, Fauré’s Requiem with the Mostly Mozart Festival in San Diego, and Puccini concerts with Sarasota Opera. She was a 2021 grand finalist in the Metropolitan Opera's Laffont Competition and a winner of the Sullivan Foundation Award.

About Eva and Marc Stern
Chairman of the company’s board of directors from 2002 to 2021, and now serving as Honorary Chairman, Marc Stern has been the driving force in bringing many of the world’s most influential artists to Los Angeles. The Sterns have been involved in nearly every aspect of LA Opera over many years, championing more than 15 ambitious projects including the 2010 Ring cycle, numerous new productions, and DVD releases of La Traviata (with Renée Fleming) and the double Grammy Award-winning Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (with Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone). Through the Eva and Marc Stern Principal Artists Fund, which they established in 2017, they have underwritten performances of major stars including Angel Blue, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Rod Gilfry, Susan Graham, Domingo Hindoyan, Isabel Leonard, Ana María Martínez, Audra McDonald and Rachel Willis-Sørensen. The Sterns were the co-chairs of Plácido Domingo’s 30th anniversary celebration at LA Opera and the underwriters of his 50th anniversary celebration at the Metropolitan Opera.

Marc Stern is chairman of The TCW Group, Inc., a Los Angeles-based asset management firm. He is involved in numerous philanthropic activities, including serving on the boards of the Metropolitan Opera, the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Committee and the California Institute of Technology. He is also a minority owner of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Eva Stern is a clinical social worker and philanthropist, supporting Southern California youth through the combination of education and the arts. A board member of the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, in 2006 she led the effort to establish the Marc and Eva Stern Math and Science School. She also serves on the President’s Council at CSU Los Angeles, on the board of The Blue Ribbon, and is a past chair of InsideOUT Writers, a creative writing program for youth in juvenile hall.

Previous Honorees
The inaugural Stern Artist Award recipients in 2021 were soprano Angel Blue, soprano Janai Brugger, bass-baritone Craig Colclough, tenor Joshua Guerrero and mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey. Tenor Ben Bliss, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges and soprano Liv Redpath were the 2022 honorees. The award went to conductor Lina González-Granados and bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee in 2023, and to conductor Louis Lohraseb, director Kaneza Schaal and administrator Patricia McLeod in 2024.

Learn more at    LAOpera.org/SternAward.
Click    here to hear from this year's honorees.
Click here to download photos of the 2025 Stern Artist Award recipients.

About LA Opera
Los Angeles is a city of enormous diversity and creativity, and LA Opera is dedicated to reflecting that vibrancy by redefining what opera can be. Through imaginative new productions, world premiere commissions, and inventive performances that preserve foundational works while making them feel fresh and compelling, LA Opera has become one of America’s most exciting and ambitious opera companies.

In addition to its mainstage performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the company explores unusual repertoire each season through the LA Opera Off Grand initiative, featuring performances in a variety of venues throughout Los Angeles. The LA Opera Connects initiative offers a robust variety of educational programming and community engagement offerings that reaches people throughout every corner of Los Angeles County. Learn more at LAOpera.org.

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