Ana Karneža, a Slovenian actor and singer, currently finishing her last year of the MFA acting program at the Juilliard School, won the first prize in 2024 Lenya Competition in the US in early May. She was shortlisted for the prize among 286 candidates from 25 countries.

"With a commanding performance of substance and style, Ana Karneža took home the First Prize of $25,000. From her glittering entrance to her touching close, her extraordinary personifications in four selections from Offenbach to ABBA left the full house in joyful tears," the Lenya Competition says on its website.

Each of the ten finalists did a 15-minute performance in front of a jury comprised of three renown artists.

Since its inception in 1998, the Lotte Lenya Competition recognizes talented young singer/actors in repertoire ranging from opera/operetta to contemporary Broadway scores, with a focus on the works of Kurt Weill, says the website.

Karneža, who has a rare disease - spondylometaphyseal chondrodysplasia, appeared in Slovenia's Got Talent when she was 16.

Later she went to study at NYU Abu Dhabi, one of the most international and diverse universities, where she studied global theatre. After graduation in 2020 she won a scholarship for Julliard, where she is to graduate at the end of the month.

She told the Slovenian Press Agency that she plans to stay in the US to pursue a career on Broadway and in Los Angeles.