Season subscribers to The Dallas Opera have selected immensely talented soprano Mary Dunleavy to be the honored recipient of the 2006 Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award for her performances as all four leading ladies in the Dallas Opera’s co-production of Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann.

In a written statement, Ms. Dunleavy commented, “I was one of the early winners of The Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. So it was really wonderful to return to Texas to make my debut with The Dallas Opera as the four heroines in The Tales of Hoffmann. It isn’t very often that an opera company will take the risk of casting one singer in all four roles, and I am so very glad that The Dallas Opera put their trust in me. It was an exciting production and so very rewarding for me as an actress and as a singer.”

Ms. Dunleavy, who earned her Masters Degree in Music from U.T. and frequently returns to instruct master classes, is praised as one of the most exciting singers in this generation of lyric coloratura sopranos. She was recently honored by the University of Texas as one of four University of Texas alumni chosen by the Texas Exes to receive the "Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award" (2006). The Texas Exes inaugurated this award a quarter century ago in order to recognize particularly distinguished young alumni who have demonstrated a continuing interest in The University of Texas and the Texas Exes.

Ms. Dunleavy was one of eight exceptionally gifted singing actors nominated by a panel of music critics and opera company officials to be considered for this year's award. The other nominees were Christophe Dumaux (Unulfo in Rodelinda, January 2006), Wolfgang Holzmair (Papageno in The Magic Flute, February 2006), Brandon Jovanovich (Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, November 2005), Maria Kanyova (Nedda in Pagliacci, November 2005), Jeffrey Kneebone (for the dual roles of Alfio and Tonio in Cavalleria and Pagliacci), Antonello Palombi (Canio in Pagliacci, November 2005) and Lyubov Petrova (Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, January 2006).