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(FILES)This file photo taken on October 22, 2010 shows soprano Tamara Wilson performing during the award ceremony of the 2010 National Endowment for the Arts at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington DC. Soprano Tamara Wilson, fresh from well-received performances in New York and London, on April 3, 2016 won the Richard Tucker Award that recognizes US opera singers. The award, named for the celebrated late tenor, comes with $50,000 but is also seen as identifying up-and-coming US opera singers. Past winners included future stars such as Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt and Joyce DiDonato. / AFP / KIMIHIRO HOSHINO Image Credit: AFP

Soprano Tamara Wilson has won the award dubbed the Heisman Trophy for singers.

The $50,000 (Dh183,604) Richard Tucker Award cash prize was announced on Monday in New York. It goes to an American opera singer on the cusp of a major international career.

Since it was created in 1975 and named for the late tenor many winners have become stars on the world’s top stages. Those stars include soprano Renee Fleming and last year’s honouree, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton.

Wilson says when she got the call with the news she jumped around her London hotel room “for a solid 10 minutes.”

The 34-year-old Wilson made her critically acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in 2014 singing the title role of Verdi’s Aida.

As this year’s winner she’ll be featured at a Carnegie Hall concert on October 30.