second Place, Winner of $800 Scholarship Award

Krishna Raman

(Student of Christine Marie Li)

A native of New Jersey, Indian American tenor Krishna Raman started his musical journey at the tender age of 5 singing Carnatic music - a style of Indian classical music. Embracing his cultural roots, he harnessed this foundation and has shifted into Western classical music with interests in opera, art song, contemporary music, early music, and oratorio. Krishna earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University, and his Master of Music in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California. Currently based in Los Angeles, California, Krishna actively performs with many local companies including the San Diego Opera, Pacific Opera Project, Guild Opera, Adoro Ensemble, as well as the Los Angeles Master Chorale and LA Philharmonic.

third Place, Winner of $500 Scholarship Award

Lily Prado

(Student of Dr. Katharin Rundus)

Lily Prado is an operatic soprano based in Southern California. She holds a Masters of Music Degree from The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU Long Beach, where she graduated Spring 2026. 

In the winter 25/26 season, Lily sang in San Diego Opera’s holiday concert series “Making Merry” with her husband, Felipe Prado, & Resident Conductor of San Diego Opera Bruce Stasyna. Lily also sang for Maestro Yves Abel in a public masterclass hosted by San Diego Opera, in addition to other private concerts with the company. Additionally, she sang Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Angels Lyric Opera & premiered the role of Sarah in James Domine’s new opera Luke & Sarah with the San Fernando Valley Symphony. 

Upcoming, Lily will make her mainstage debut with San Diego Opera singing Barbarina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. She also returns to the role of Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen with Valley Opera. 

In competitions, Lily won Encouragement & Audience Choice Awards in the 2025/2026 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (San Diego District), 1st Place in the 2025 Whittier Regional Symphony Young Artist Competition, Finalist in the 2025 Burbank Philharmonic Young Artist Competition, 1st Place in the 2024 Sigma Alpha Iota PAC Aria Competition, & 3rd Place in the 2024 Randy Melson Vocal Competition. 

Select role credits include: Gilda (Rigoletto), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Frasquita (Carmen), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), & Valencienne (The Merry Widow). 

For more: LilyPrado.com

Guo Wu is soprano operatic singer, voice instructor originally from China and currently based in Los Angeles. She is a second year doctoral student at the USC Thornton School of Music majoring in Vocal Arts under the guidance of Professor Lynn Helding. She obtained her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees at the Eastman School of Music and studied under Robert Swensen. 

She has performed Sandrina in La finta giardiniera(Mozart) at the Thornton School of Music under the baton of Brent McMunn. She also played Morgana in Alcina(Handel), Peitho in Here Be Sirens(Kate Soper), Nora’s Mind in Lear On The Second Floor(Anthony Davis) and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos(prologue)(R. Strauss) at the Eastman Opera Theater under the batons of Timothy Long. She also has performed Gianetta in L’elisir d’amore(Donizetti) and Cupidon in Orphée aux enfers(Offenbach) at the Opera in the Ozarks under the batons of Anthony Barrese and Thomas Cockrell. 

She also actively engages in singing new music compositions. She has premiered several new music compositions and has performed works by George Crumb and Kate Soper.

New Jerseyan lyric Zwischenfach Samantha Rosenberg is a rising star, praised for the “lush warmth” of her tone and her natural acting ability. Winner of the 2026 CSUN Aria Competition, she will perform Salomé’s aria, “Il est doux, il est bon,” from Massenet’s Hérodiade with the CSUN Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Dr. John Roscigno in February 2027. Ms. Rosenberg was recently admitted to the audition-based Los Angeles organization The Opera Buffs, Inc. (2026) which fosters emerging opera singers through mentorship, financial support, and performing engagements. She is also a two-time Village Voices Chorale scholarship recipient (2025, 2026), a Conejo Valley-based chorale. This summer, Samantha will attend the prestigious six-week American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, where she has been awarded one of the program’s top scholarships. 

Her credits span both soprano and mezzo-soprano roles, including Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Jenny Diver (The Threepenny Opera), Mathurine (L’ivrogne corrigé), and most recently Wife in The Juniper Tree by Philip Glass and Robert Moran with CSUN Opera. Active with local opera companies, she has performed with LA Opera Connects (Las tres mujeres de Jerusalén) and Independent Opera Company as First Maiden in Daphne. She is currently touring elementary schools throughout the greater Los Angeles area with Guild Opera Company’s production of Seymour Barab’s Little Red Riding Hood as the eccentric Grandmother. 

Rosenberg specializes in 20th-century American art song and Golden Age musical theatre, and frequently performs selections from the Great American Songbook with Valley Opera and Performing Arts. Her 20+ private voice and piano students know her as “Ms. Sam,” a patient and supportive mentor. Beyond singing, she also pursues songwriting, dance, and choreography, inspired by her parents—one a bandleader and the other a dancer. 

She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from California State University, Northridge, where she studied with voice teacher Diane Ketchie, opera music director Mercedes Juan Musotto, and coach Tali Tadmor, and is currently completing her Master of Music at the same institution.