A second-year Butler Studio artist from Albany, Georgia, Demetrious Sampson, Jr. performs the roles of Ruiz in Il trovatore, Parpignol in La bohème, and Younger Sailor in Breaking the Waves during HGO’s 2024-25 season. The previous season for the company, Sampson performed the role of 3rd Esquire in Parsifal. Sampson is the second place and Audience Choice Winner in HGO’s 2023 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias and a 2022 alumnus of HGO’s Young Artists Vocal Academy. He made his professional debut with Atlanta Opera at the age of 20 as Crab Man in Porgy and Bess, a role he reprised at Des Moines Metro Opera in summer 2022 as an apprentice artist. During summer 2023, he joined the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. In summer 2024, he makes company and role debuts with Cincinnati Opera as Gastone in La traviata and with Wolf Trap Opera as the Kronprinz in Kevin Puts’ Silent Night. A previous Encouragement Award winner, he was named a National Finalist in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Sampson received his bachelor’s degree from Georgia State University in 2023.