Ekaterine Buachidze

First prize, the zarzuela prize and the public award of Operalia went to Ekaterine Buachidze at the 2025 competition, held in Bulgaria Hall in Sofia between 20 and 26 October. She began singing as a child in the Georgian children's folk choir Little Georgica, and appeared in the Operalia final gala under Nayden Todorov on 26 October 2025; the Sofia Philharmonic brought her back to the same hall, billed as Kato Buachidze, on 5 March 2026. She trained at the Vano Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire and was a member of the Bavarian State Opera Studio in the 2024/25 season.