Operalia was founded in 1993 as a competition that gifted young singers would be able to attend regardless of their economic means and that would lead not only to one-off prizes but also to employment in opera ensembles around the world.
Under Plácido Domingo's artistic aegis since its inception, Operalia has become one of the most important international contests for opera singers of all voice categories who are in the early stages of their career. It is a non-profit organization that maintains a head office in Paris. Each year, the competition's rules and application forms are distributed to opera companies, conservatories and individual teachers, coaches, managers and agents all over the globe; press representatives publicize the contest via international, national, regional and local television, radio and newspapers. An average of 800 to 1, 000 applications and audio cassette tapes are received each year. Operalia's Artistic Committee, whose members are chosen by Domingo and work independently of each other, reviews all the applications, listens to all the cassettes, and rates each candidate on a scale of one to ten; the results are collated by the head office, and the top forty candidates are flown at the sponsors' expense to the city where the competition is to be