[The Metropolitan Opera, 16 January 2005] The first annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at The Metropolitan Opera has been given to 35-year-old baritone Nathan Gunn. The new award of $50,000 was recently established by an endowment gift from Agnes Varis, a managing director on The Met board, and Karl Leichtman, her husband, in honor of Ms. Sills. It is the largest award of its kind in the United States.