History

 Opera Index, an outgrowth of The New York Opera Club, which was founded in the late 1950's by William Wells for the purpose of offering social interaction in the world of opera for his friends. The vehicle chosen to do this was a series of interviews with famous opera singers. In 1980 it was decided to expand the organization so as to provide awards to singers through a vocal competition. This required the creation of a non-profit organization.

Opera Index was incorporated in 1982 as a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization. The name referred to an index kept by William Wells which had a listing of known opera singers at that time - a most unusual name that has persisted despite the fact that his index no longer exists.

The vocal competition began in 1984 and today has become one of the premiere competitions in the United States, awarding 1.2 million dollars to over 400 young singers. A full list can be found here. Opera Index winners singing at the Metropolitan Opera in recent seasons include: Ben Bliss (2014), Stephanie Blythe (1996), Patrick Carfizzi (1999), Michael Fabiano (2007), Christine Goerke (1995), Susan Graham (1987), Ryan Speedo Green (2014), Yonghoon Lee (2005), Caitlin Lynch (2007), Lucas Meachem (2001), Angela Meade (2006), Lisette Oropesa (2006), David Pershall (2011), Ailyn Perez (1999), Nadine Sierra (2010), Christian Van Horn (2003), Maria Zifchak (1999).