(photo by Alma Guzman)

Baritone Benjamin Dickerson was a top winner in the 2022 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, which was held on May 22 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Dickerson, left, was joined by director Nedra Zachary at the competition. He was among a group of distinguished honorees that included soprano Chelsea Lehnea, a participant in the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, who won the $15,000 first-place prize; tenor Oliver Sewell, an alumnus of the Academy of Vocal Arts, who won the $10,000 second-place prize; and tenor Anthony Ciaramitaro, a member of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Thornton Young Artist Program, who earned the $6,000 third-place prize.

Dickerson, of the Academy of Vocal Arts, won the $4,500 fourth-place award. The fifth-place prize of $3,000 was awarded to soprano Alaysha Fox, a member of the LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Thornton Young Artist Program. Tenor Jongwon Han, from the Mannes School of Music, won the sixth place Encouragement Award of $2,500. Four finalists – tenor Sahel Salam, soprano Shaina Martinez, bass William Meinert and tenor Christopher Oglesby – each received $2,000 study grants.

The jury included Zachary, Lowell Harris, Robert Holmes, Kenneth Morris and Michele Patzakis. For information, visit zacharysociety.org.