Colombian-American soprano Vanessa Vasquez, winner of the 2017 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, is currently a fourth-year Resident Artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where she has been heard as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. She made her professional opera debut in summer 2017 as Liù in Turandot with Des Moines Metro Opera. She was a featured soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the Academy of Music 160th Anniversary Concert and Ball. Ms. Vasquez is the recipient of a 2017 Sara Tucker Study Grant, First Prize in the 2017 Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, and First Prize in the 2016 Licia Albanese Competition, among others. Ms. Vasquez is a native of Scottsdale, Arizona.