MSU Alum Shannon Crowley Among Winners of The Met’s Prestigious Laffont Competition

Performing on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera can represent entry into the very center of the profession for a singer. For Michigan State University alumna Shannon Crowley, that milestone arrived this spring with a coveted opera honor.

Soprano Shannon Crowley, a 2022 MSU Vocal Performance graduate originally from Virginia, persisted in her efforts to win The Met’s annual Laffont Competition. In 2026, after a few tries, she did it. Photo: Natalie Powers

Crowley, a soprano who earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from MSU in 2022, is one of six national winners of the 2026 Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, presented by The Metropolitan Opera. Formerly known as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the competition is regarded as one of the most selective and influential platforms for identifying promising young singers at the start of major careers.

Each year, thousands of singers across North America enter the multi stage process. In 2026, more than 1,700 applicants began the competition, with roughly nine hundred qualifying singers advancing through district and regional rounds before only ten semifinalists reached the final concert on the Met stage. From there, just six singers were named winners.

For Crowley, the recognition marked not a sudden arrival, but the outcome of years of persistence and steady growth.

She first entered the competition at age 20 during the pandemic, when auditions were conducted entirely by video. Since then, she has returned every year, progressing through encouragement awards, district wins, and regional recognition before ultimately earning a place among the national winners.

“You’re getting in front of professional ears that wouldn’t normally hear you and getting some really valuable feedback,” Crowley said. “So, it was always something that I wanted to do, even if I never went past a certain level.”

A student of Mark Rucker, Shannon Crowley is indicative of the kind of success seen in MSU Vocal Arts Alumni. As Area Chair Richard Fracker points out, “every studio proudly has alumni in the professional performing ranks.”

That perspective reflects how she understands careers in opera. Success, she noted, rarely happens all at once. Even a prestigious honor does not change the reality that progress is built on sustained effort, preparation, and patience.

After graduating from MSU, Crowley went directly to Rice University, where she earned her Master of Music degree in 2024. She then joined the Pittsburgh Opera as a resident artist. Recently, she announced that she has signed with Fletcher Artist Management, a move she had been considering carefully over the past year.

As her professional opportunities expand, Crowley consistently points back to Michigan State as a place where trust, encouragement, and artistic ambition came together at a formative moment.

She arrived in East Lansing from Virginia Beach having already performed roles and studied opera through the Governor’s School for the Arts in Virginia. Still, she said she was struck by how quickly MSU entrusted her with significant responsibility.

As a freshman, Crowley was cast in the leading role in Rossini’s La scala di seta.

“I got to be the star for one show, which was really fun,” she said. “Even to this day, I don’t think I’ve performed a role that is in that lane. I still look back at it as one of my favorites, and to do it as a freshman was very cool and very amazing that Michigan State trusted me.”

Shannon was thrilled to play a lead role as Giulia in Rossini’s La Scala di Seta in her first year at MSU.

The momentum slowed briefly at the end of her sophomore year and throughout her junior year when the COVID 19 pandemic forced everything online. When live performances returned, Crowley said, the revival was energizing, with meaningful roles during her senior year.

Just as important were the relationships that endured beyond graduation. Crowley maintains close connections with classmates, fellow alumni, and faculty members, and she was especially aware of that network following news of her Laffont win.

“Our blood runs green, and you’re going to reach out if you see somebody doing amazing things,” she said of the response she received from MSU voice alumni.

Among Shannon Crowley’s professional endeavors has been her residency with Pittsburgh Opera. Here, she is seen singing the role of Mary Johnson in Fellow Travelers in November 2025.

For Mark Rucker, professor of voice and Crowley’s primary teacher at MSU, that sense of lasting connection reflects both Crowley’s character and the environment that helped shape her, including her time at the Governor’s School.

“It was obvious from Shannon’s audition that this was a very talented young singer,” Rucker said.

He pointed to the breadth of opportunities available at MSU — operas, concerts, classes, coachings, and a supportive faculty and student culture — as essential to her development.

“Shannon’s talent, focus and spirit blossomed here at MSU,” he said. “It takes a village, which is true, and our village here at MSU was a wonderful one to encourage and expand this amazing talent.”

Vocal Arts Area alums from MSU can create a strong bond, and Shannon Crowley’s crew is a great example. They had some fun during her visit to see them in 2023. From left: Jackson Hall, Maria Schoon, Cole Harvey, Crowley, Natalie Sweeney, and Kody Farrier.

That belief is shared across the MSU Vocal Arts Area.

“Shannon’s success is unsurprising and a testament first to her exceptional talent and work ethic,” said Richard Fracker, professor of voice and chair of the Vocal Arts Area. “We have created an outstanding culture of student support and excellence. Every professor here has a track record of success both as performers and pedagogues, and every studio proudly has alumni in the professional performing ranks. It is a great time to be a Spartan in the Vocal Arts!”

Nearing the end of her residency with Pittsburgh Opera and preparing for the next phase of her career, Crowley finds herself reflecting on what matters most.

“I feel very grateful,” she said. “I think that it’s a privilege to be able to do this, and not everybody does get to do this for a living. If I’m singing at all, that’s success.”

She never expected to win the Laffont Competition, she added, and the outpouring of support from the many communities she belongs to has been both humbling and motivating.

“I feel so loved and supported, and I think that is what keeps you going, right?” Crowley said. “Everyone wants to see you succeed, and it gives you the fuel to keep grinding because, although I may have won, and it’s an amazing honor that is going to bring me a lot of opportunities, it’s still hard work. It was hard work to get here, and it’s still going to be hard work to get other things. That is why right now, I’m just feeling very grateful for my communities and grateful to be able to make art at a high level.”