At the premiere of SKOPUH on October 29, 2008, we handed over the award (a statuette of a lyre and a ceremonial certificate) to the first prize winner, who was chosen by a committee consisting of Franc Rizmal, conductor, Simon Robinson, conductor and Jelena Boljubaš, pianist.
 

The commission decided to award the prize to the tenor ANDREJ DEBEVAC, who, in addition to his many supporting and leading roles, dedicates the opera repertoire (in Ljubezenské napojo, Gorenje nightingale, The Barber of Seville, Don Pasquale, Don Giovanni, in the operas V vodnjaku, I Pagliacci, The Bat, In love with three oranges, The Bartered Bride, Ivan Susanin, Falstaff, Turandot, the operettas Čardaška keninja and many others) special attention to roles in chamber operas (Secret Marriage, Ksenija, Stara pesem, Prilika dela tatu, Teiresije's Breasts, Emperor of Atlantis). However, he excelled in collaboration with the Slovenian  chamber music theater, where he performed in four performances: first as Anže in Offenbach's Miracle in Kropa, then in a full-length opera project for one singer in the title role of Veliki Jože Dobrnik's day, subtitled as The Opera Prop Maker's Evening, as Mozart in Mozart's opera Theatrical Director and finally as Stinger in the Russian composer Vasilija Paškevich's opera Skopuh.
 

Andrej Debevec is definitely one of the leading singers of the Ljubljana Opera House, who made a significant contribution to the popularization of chamber opera art with his extremely high-quality artistic knowledge and diligence, as well as his singing and acting persuasiveness to create singing roles at the highest level. That is why he rightly received the honor of the first winner of the newly established Sam Smerkolje Award, which is awarded by the Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre.