ELIZABETH GREENFIELD
THE FINALISTS REVEALED 2025
JTVA is pleased to announce the 5 finalists for the fifth Elizabeth Greenfield Award. This video is a brief compilation of excerpts from the finalists’ applications. We are thrilled with the remarkable talent of all these singers and look forward with great excitement to what the future brings them!
Top row: Adia Evans, soprano│Nina Evelyn, soprano│John Mburu, bass
Bottom Row: Alicia Russell Tagert, soprano│Olivier Zerouali, baritone
AWARD COORDINATOR
Mykel Robinson-Collins - Greenfield Award Coordinator
Mykel Robinson-Collins is a versatile soprano with a passion for sharing the gift of music. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, a Master’s degree in Music Performance, and a Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy. Mykel has performed in choirs, operas, and special events, bringing warmth and artistry to every stage. She currently teaches general music and chorus while also offering private voice lessons, where she inspires students to discover their unique sound.
Meet the Judges
Whitney Morrison
Grammy-nominated rising star Whitney Morrison has earned praise for her “big, gleaming soprano” (Chicago Classical Review) and “vocally sumptuous”performances (Chicago Tribune). A Chicago native and recent alum of the Ryan Opera Center, Morrison champions the African American aesthetic in classical music, embracing a style of performance that blends classical singing technique with elements of the gospel singing tradition. Of her most recent performance in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s virtual concert, “Lawrence Brownlee and Friends: The Next Chapter,” Opera News raved, “Whitney Morrison was simply astonishing in everything she sang...This is a voice we need to hear live.” Morrison is the first ever artist-in-residence at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Her first project in this role, Growing Room, involved a series of pop-up installations in Chicago public spaces in that allowed viewers a rare look into Morrison’s practice and rehearsal. In 2025, Morrison debuted the role of the Artist/Activist in the world premiere of The Seasons, a co-production featuring works by Vivaldi with Boston Lyric Opera and American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*) developed by Anthony Roth Costanzo with music direction by Stephen Stubbs. Whitney will reprise this role with Opera Philadelphia later this year. She made her AMOC* debut in 2024 as Ottavia in the world premiere performance of Yuval Sharon’s Comet Poppea, a role which she will reprise at Lincoln Center in the summer.
Reginald Smith
Reginald Smith, Jr., is a GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning baritone, lauded as a "passionate performer" (The New York Times) with a voice that is "electric, hall-filling" (The Baltimore Sun), and "one of the most exciting baritone sounds to come along in years" (Opera News). Smith’s 2025-2026 season features his house and role debuts at Seattle Opera as the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance; at Minnesota Opera as Tonio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci; and with the Oakland Symphony in his first Verdi’s Requiem. He appears at the Houston Grand Opera for his role debut as Peter in Hänsel und Gretel and performs the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Windsor Symphony Primo Artists · 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite B222 · New York, NY 10001 · 212.804.8301 · www.primoartists.com Orchestra. In concert, he returns to The Phoenix Symphony and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for special holiday performances. In recent seasons, Smith made debuts with the Washington National Opera, Baltimore Symphony, and Sacramento Philharmonic. He also took part in a United in Song concert with the American Pops Orchestra, televised nationally on PBS, and performed in recitals at Mercer University and the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual gala. Throughout his operatic career, Smith has performed with leading companies worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, where he won a 2021 GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording for his house debut in 2019, as well as the Dallas Opera and Hong Kong Opera. Born in Atlanta, Smith is a Grand Finals winner of the 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, among many other accolades. Learn more at www.reginaldsmithjr.com.
Audra Scott
This Award-winning, multi-disciplinary artist continues the steady ascent of her emerging career. Audra Scott is a Fort Worth based singer-songwriter, children’s book author, and educator. Audra holds degrees and an Artist Certificate from Prairie View A&M University, University of Arizona, and Southern Methodist University all with a concentration in vocal performance. After college, Audra joined the Munich-based Company, New York Harlem Theater and has been seen throughout Europe with the tour of Porgy & Bess for over ten years. She has been seen in opera houses and theaters such as, but not limited to; Oper Leipzig, Bremen Music Theatre, Kölner Philharmonie, Komische Oper Berlin, Grand Théatre de Genéve, Chassé Theater (Netherlands), Amsterdam RAI, Le Colisée, Opéra de Massey and National theatre Mannheim, and Toruń, Poland to name a few. audra has also been featured in a concert series entitled, 'Christmas Dreams from America' presented throughout Germany. Audra has been presented in recitals throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Houston, Prairie View, Arizona, Minnesota, Utah, Sweet-water and California. She has trained as a young artist with Amarillo Opera, Utah Festival Opera, and Dallas Opera. Audra’s career has taken a beautiful turn towards jazz, where she has been able to merge her love for jazz and her classical training together to present elegant, heartfelt, soul stirring arrangements of popular spirituals and jazz standard. Audra has had the opportunity to perform personal arrangements and songs on many stages including the denton jazz festival and in the Jazz series at Sammon's Arts Center in Dallas alongside renowned composer and arranger Curtis Bradshaw. She has also been seen at the new Coppell Performing Arts Center in Coppell, Texas and just finished her second gospel tour in the beautiful country of Spain.