Yale Student Wins Met Opera Contest: Sarasota Graduation Shoutout

SARASOTA, FL — Graduation is a major milestone and deserves to be celebrated! That's why Patch and T-Mobile have teamed up to recognize our community's outstanding 2024 graduates.

This submission comes from Toby Kline who nominated Daniel Espinal of Sarasota.

Graduate’s name

Toby

What grade is the graduate finishing?

Graduate School

What school is your graduating student graduating from?

Yale

How do you know your graduating student nominee?

His father cuts our grass

Tell us why they deserve to be nominated!

Daniel went to Sarasota Schools and received a scholarship to The Manhattan School of Music to study opera. He was also accepted as a summer apprentice in the Merola School of Opera, part of San Francisco Opera. He then received a full scholarship to Yale's School of Music, where he will graduate with honors this month. He was also a winner of the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Competition. Daniel's incredible success can be attributed to his hard work despite the challenges he faced as a student with learning disabilities. He is a remarkable young man on and off the stage. If you google his name, Daniel Espinal, you will see the history of his educational journey.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about your graduating student nominee?

Daniel has worked hard to achieve success, despite many challenges along the way.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about the star local student?

Congratulations on your achievements, and all of our best wishes to you in the future, Toby!

This content is brought to our community in partnership with T-Mobile.

Know an outstanding student who deserves a shout-out?

Nominate them here.