At LA Opera, great artistry doesn’t simply appear on our stage—it becomes part of who we are. It’s something we recognize, invest in, and bring into sharper focus. The Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award is one way we do just that: an annual honor for artists whose work leaves a lasting imprint—long after the final curtain, and well into the drive home. 

Eva and Marc Stern have been part of nearly every facet of LA Opera for more than two decades. Marc served as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors from 2002 to 2021 and now holds the title of Honorary Chairman. Together, they established the Eva and Marc Stern Principal Artists Fund, which has supported performances by many audience favorites, including Angel Blue, Renée Fleming, Rod Gilfry, Susan Graham, Domingo Hindoyan, Isabel Leonard, Ana María Martínez, Audra McDonald, and Rachel Willis-Sørensen. The Artist Award is just one example of their extraordinary generosity and their ongoing commitment to keeping opera vibrant and thriving in Los Angeles. 

The award celebrates performers who don’t just sing beautifully—they connect with our audiences in ways that make them beloved members of the LA Opera family. Along with the recognition comes a $25,000 prize, designed to support these artists as their careers continue to take off. Think of it as both a bravo and a boost. 

Over the years, the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award has highlighted a wide range of artists on the rise—many of whom have gone on to perform on some of the world’s most prestigious stages. It’s one of the ways LA Opera invests in the future of the art form: by recognizing excellence in the moment and helping it grow into something even bigger. 

This season, we’re thrilled to honor soprano Kathleen O’Mara and tenor Duke Kim—two artists whose recent accomplishments make them perfect fits for this tradition. 

Kathleen O’Mara, a graduate of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program (2023–25), is the kind of performer who makes even a brief appearance feel like a highlight. She first won over LA audiences with her debut role as Berta in 2023’s The Barber of Seville, bringing sparkle, humor, and pinpoint precision to the role—so much so that she took it to the Metropolitan Opera the following year. (Not a bad way to follow up a debut.) 

Since then, she’s shown her range, appearing as a featured soloist in concert with soprano Angel Blue and as the First Maid in The Dwarf. She will soon return to our stage in her first leading role with the company, Micaëla in our upcoming season-opening new production of Carmen. Offstage—or rather, on many other stages—her momentum has only grown. In 2024, she won first prize at Operalia, often dubbed the “Olympics of opera,” and also took home the Birgit Nilsson Prize for her performances of Wagner and Strauss (which, in opera terms, is no small feat). 

This season she returned to the Met as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and the First Lady in The Magic Flute,   and her career has also taken her to renowned companies like Teatro alla Scala, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and San Diego Opera. And there's plenty more on the horizon, including debuts with Seattle Opera and Santa Fe Opera, and a major role debut as Elsa in Lohengrin   with Dallas Opera. In short: she’s going places, and we’re lucky to have her as part of the LA Opera family. 

Duke Kim’s path to opera was a little less traditional. Born in Seoul, South Korea, he originally dreamed of becoming a K-pop star before discovering opera after moving to Orange County at 14. Fast forward a few years, and he’s not just singing opera—he’s winning some of its biggest competitions. 

He’s a Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition, one of the most important launching pads for young opera singers in the U.S., and he followed that with a second-place finish at Operalia, as well as top honors at the Juan Pons International Singing Competition. Safe to say, the opera world stood up and took notice. 

At LA Opera, Duke made a memorable debut as Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, bringing warmth, elegance, and a truly swoon-worthy tenor sound to the role. He then showed off his versatility as Tony in West Side Story—because why stick to just one genre?—and will soon return in the title role of Bernstein’s Candide, a part that lets him flex both his vocal agility and his comedic timing. 

Together, O’Mara and Kim represent exactly what the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award is all about: artists who are making an impact now and promise even more ahead. They’ve wowed competition judges, impressed audiences around the world, and—most importantly—helped make LA Opera’s seasons all the more memorable. 

As we look to the future, this award remains a way to celebrate not just where these artists are, but where they’re going. And if their recent achievements are any indication, it’s going to be quite a journey. 

Click the video below to get to hear from the artists directly: