Armenian soprano Julietta Aleksanyan has won the Aram Khachaturian Interational Competition’s inaugural vocal category.

Second prize went to Kazakhstani baritone Azamat Zhleyrguzov and third to Armenian baritone Gagik Vardanyan. Armenian tenor Tigran Ohanyan won the audience choice award, and pianist Elena Vardazaryan won the prize for best accompanist.

The final round of the competition took place in Yerevan, Armenia on 14 June. The jury was chaired by conductor Constantine Orbelian, and also included Askonas Holt executive director Mark Hildrew, Welsh Nationa Opera artistic director John Fisher, and soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian.

Established in 2003, the Aram Khachaturian International Competition originally rotated annually between piano, violin and cello until 2016, when a conducting category was added. The next edition of the competition, which will take place in June 2018, will be dedicated to the cello.