Jonah Hoskins

Jonah Hoskins was one of 11 finalists in this year’s Operalia — a prestigious global opera competition that renowned tenor Placido Domingo founded to help launch the careers of “the most promising young opera singers of today.”[1] This year’s finalists come from all over, including the United States, Russia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Peru, and South Korea. Hoskins made it to the final round held on October 24, 2021, and he tied for second place and was awarded $20,000.

“People who do well in the Operalia competition, they tend to have pretty successful careers,” the 24-year-old tenor and former BYU student told the Deseret News from his hotel room in Moscow. “As a 20-year-old, I thought, ‘If you win Operalia, you’ve made it.’ So it’s weird to see me here, and of course I don’t feel like I’ve made it at all. I can’t believe that I’m in the competition.”[2]

He was one of five singers to share the top spot in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2020 National Council Auditions. The win gave him $20,000 and major exposure in the opera world.

The Deseret News reported: “The biggest opera houses in the country heard Hoskins sing the famous French aria “Ah! Mes Amis” [during the competition]. The challenging piece—once a signature aria for Luciano Pavarotti—comes with a string of nine high C’s. But Hoskins went well beyond that number and even threw in a trill to a high D—an especially rare move for that piece.

“That’s kind of my thing,” Hoskins said with a laugh, adding that his voice teacher, Juilliard School instructor Darrell Babidge (a former BYU teacher), encouraged him to use that technique during the performance.[3]

Hoskins grew up singing in the Salt Lake Children’s Choir but was 16 years old before he began seriously thinking about music as a career. He then entered a high school music competition called Classical Singer. He did not win but he was awarded a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in New York.

He’d lived in New York City while serving a mission in Chinatown for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2015 to 2017. Recalling how some people were surprised he would halt his vocal studies to serve a church mission, Hoskins says he believes it’s a decision that ultimately ended up benefiting him as a performer — just a year after his mission, he made his professional debut in Utah Opera’s production of “Romeo et Juliette” in October 2018.

Hoskins, a tenor, auditioned for the Juilliard School the same time he was competing in the National Council Auditions in New York. Hoskins got an offer from the Met to join the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program — a paid position where he trains with vocal coaches and gets to perform at the Met. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up that Hoskins decided to discontinue his audition process for the Juilliard School.

"Although the Metropolitan Opera House was closed to the public during a large portion of the pandemic, Hoskins trained virtually. Now, he is preparing for a small role in the upcoming production of “Cinderella,” which will mark his official Met debut."[4]

Jonah’s sister, Mary Hoskins, is also seeking a career in opera. As teenagers, they were taught by Isaac Hurtado, a voice professor and opera director at Utah Valley University.

Jonah enjoyed singing at zone conferences and even sang at an interfaith gathering during the Muslim observance of Ramadan.

Some of Jonah’s fellow opera performers thought he was crazy to interrupt vocal training for missionary service. “But I don’t think serving a mission was ever really a question for me.”[5]