Every year since 1954 the Metropolitan Opera in New York has held a competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (now known as the Laffont Competition), to find exceptional young opera talent. The auditions are organized and produced by a network of over 1,500 volunteers in 42 districts, which are grouped into 12 regions. The Northwest Region, one of the first to be established, is divided into four districts: Washington; Western Canada; Oregon; and Idaho/Montana.
The purpose of the Laffont Competition program is:
- To discover exceptional young talent. To provide a venue for young opera singers from all over the country and at all different levels of experience to be heard by a representative of The Metropolitan Opera and to assist those with the greatest potential in their development.
- To identify new talent for The Metropolitan Opera and for possible participants in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
The Vancouver Opera Guild has been a proud sponsor of the Western Canada Laffont (formerly MONC) auditions since 1978.