Oakton's Zach Heise placed second at the Schmidt Vocal Arts Illinois Regional Competition, winning a $2,000 prize and a spot in the national finals in June 2027.

Heise competed Sunday, Oct. 4, at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where a jury of three voice professors selected 10 finalists, according to OperaWire. Each finalist received $500. Heise finished behind only first-place winner Audrey Tromp of Brookfield, Ill., who took home $2,500, and ahead of third-place finisher Belle Thommen of Elgin, Ill., a student at Interlochen Arts Academy, who received $1,500.

All three prizewinners advance to the Schmidt Vocal Arts National Competition, scheduled for June 4 through June 6, 2027, at the William E. Schmidt Opera Theatre at Sarasota Opera in Sarasota, Fla. The national first-place prize is $10,000, with $7,500 for second and $5,000 for third.

The regional competition is open to high school sophomores, juniors and seniors at locations across the country. Alumni of the program have won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the George London Competition.

The Illinois Regional jury included mezzo-soprano Karen Brunssen, co-chair of Northwestern's Department of Music Performance; baritone Andrew Ryker, a voice professor at Georgia State University; and mezzo-soprano Marietta Simpson, former Distinguished Rudy Professor of Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

The three regional prizewinners are also eligible to apply for need-based college scholarships through Schmidt Vocal Arts.