12th JTVA VOCAL COMPETITION WEEKEND JULY 19 & 20, 2025

The 12th Annual JTVA Vocal Competition weekend is comprised of four separate events, each of which is open to the public. Two tiers of singers will participate in master classes on Saturday, July 19, followed by a welcome reception open to all attendees. On Sunday, July 20, these two tiers will compete for over $40,000 in prize money in the competition finals. All events will be held at the Valley Center for the Performing Arts, on the former campus of Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd. in Oakland CA. Parking is free. The complete weekend schedule is:

Saturday, July 19 - Master Classes

Tier II at 3:30 p.m. 

Tier I at 6:00 p.m. (Reception immediately following)

Sunday, July 20 - Competition Finals

Tier II at 11:00 a.m.

Tier I at 2:00 p.m.

Each event requires a separate ticket.

All events will be held at Valley center for the performing arts - East Bay, oakland

3500 Mountain Blvd, Oakland, CA 94602

(formerly Holy Names university)

FREE Parking

JTVA congratulates the 2025 Competition finalists!

Prizes

Prize monies are as follows. Those not in top three will receive a Bonnie Bell Encouragement Award of $2,000

Tier I Awards 

• 1st place $10,000

• 2nd place $6,000

• 3rd place $5,000 (Karen Reiter Award)

• Tier I Audience Favorite Award - $2,000

Tier II Awards 

• 1st place $4,000

• 2nd place $3,000

• 3rd place $2,500

• Tier II Audience Favorite Award - $1,000

Congratulations to our 2025 Semifinalists!

TIER I

Sarah Rachel Bacani

Brennan Blankenship

Tiffany Choe

Madeline Coffey

Meryl Dominguez

Kyle Dunn

Edward Graves

Kristen Gillis

Taylor Haines

Shelen Hughes

Leila Kirves

Anna Liu

Meagan Martin

James McCarthy

Marianne Nobre Cordeiro da Silva

Sunwoo Park

Ardeen Pierre

Leah Podzimek

Ben Reisinger

Daniel Rich

Brianna J. Robinson

Gosh Sargsyan

Victoria Schmidt

Jinni Shen

Amanda Sheriff

Bo Shimmin

Leo Williams

ABOUT JTVA

OUR MISSION

The primary emphasis of JTVA is on an annual vocal competition to support singers at the earliest stages of their professional development with financial awards, performance opportunities, master classes, and encouragement to follow their dreams. 

OPEN TO ALL

The competition awards prizes to two groups of singers. Rather than specific age or educational requirements, these groups are distinguished primarily by level of ability, vocal experience, and readiness to begin a professional career. In some cases, singers may qualify and apply for both groups. All finalists receive a cash award.

SELECTION PROCESS

A preliminary panel of anonymous judges narrows the total number of applicants down to 40 - 50 semifinalists. Then, a second panel of judges works to select five Finalists in each Tier who will be invited to the Bay Area to participate in the summer Master Classes and Competition Finals.

Competition History