• Cabildo de Gran Canaria and Fundación Internacional Alfredo Kraus are calling for applications for the ninth singing competition, to be held at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from 24 to 30 September
• The preliminary rounds will be held at Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela (Madrid) in May, Teatro alla Scala (Milan) and Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa) in June, and Auditorio Alfredo Kraus (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) in September

The Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Fundación Internacional Alfredo Kraus (FIAK) are inviting applications for the IX Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus (IX CICAK), to be held at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from 24 to 30 September 2023.

During a press conference held at the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Cabildo President Antonio Morales and the Chair of the Foundation, Rosa Kraus Ley, announced the internationally renowned jury members for the latest competition. The Chair of the jury of the IX CICAK will be Italian tenor and conductor Giuseppe Sabbatini.

An admirer of the art of Alfredo Kraus, maestro Sabbatini is highly specialised in bel canto, with a repertoire of performances at the world’s major theatres similar to that of the Gran Canarian tenor. Sabbatini treasured the advice he gained from masterclasses with Kraus during their professional relationship, which he now passes on to his own students.

Representatives from the collaborating theatres will participate as jury members: Daniel Bianco, Director, Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela (Madrid); Alessandro Galoppini, Casting Manager, Teatro alla Scala (Milan); and Pierangelo Conte, Artistic Director, Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa). They’ll be joined by Eline De Kat, Artistic Coordinator, Ópera de Montecarlo; Ulises Jaén, General and Artistic Manager, Ópera de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria/ACO; and two honorary members, Jerónimo Saavedra Acevedo and Guillermo García-Alcalde.

As in the last three events, the competition will be chaired by Rosa Kraus Ley, Chair of the FIAK and the CICAK, with Mario Pontiggia, Artistic Director of the FIAK and the CICAK, as Secretary.

Applications and venues for the competition rounds

 The IX CICAK 2023 is open to singers of all nationalities aged 18 to 32 for soprano, countertenor and tenor voices, and 18 to 35 for mezzosoprano, contralto, baritone, bass-baritone and bass voices.

Singers wishing to take part can apply using the digital application form downloadable on the competition website (www.cicakraus.com). The closing dates for applications are 15 May (Madrid), 25 May (Milan), 29 May (Genoa) and 26 June (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).

The preliminary rounds will be held at Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela, Madrid (24, 25 and 26 May); Teatro alla Scala, Milan – Ansaldo Workshop (3 and 4 June); Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa (7 and 8 June); and Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (21, 22 and 23 September). Applicants will be judged by a tribunal comprising the Chair and the Artistic Director of the FIAK and the CICAK and representatives of the collaborating institutions hosting each round.

The semi-final round (24, 25 and 26 September) and final round (30 September) will be held at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, the emblematic building opened by Alfredo Kraus in 1997. At both of these rounds, contestants will be judged by the jury of the IX CICAK. The final round, where the prize giving will take place, will be held as a public performance with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria, the official accompanist since the first competition, in 1990, conducted by maestro Oliver Díaz.

Prizes

Contestants in the IX CICAK will be eligible for very attractive prizes. The three official prizes, of 14,000, 12,000 and 10,000 euros, plus a medal and diploma, and the audience prize, of 2,500 euros and a diploma, are part of the considerable funding provided by patronage from the Cabildo de Gran Canaria.

Two special prizes are available in addition to these four official prizes: 2,500 euros plus a medal and diploma for the best opera singer, from Fundación Martín Chirino de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; and 1,500 euros and a diploma for the best zarzuela singer, from Legado Maestro Alonso CB. Contestants in the IX CICAK will also have the possibility of receiving invitations to auditions, productions, concerts or recitals from the six European theatres represented among the members of the Jury.

Faithful to the original idea of Alfredo Kraus in 1989, the purpose of the competition is to support young opera singers and help them access employment internationally. These were the aims of the Gran Canarian tenor when he inaugurated the competition in 1990 and continued to hold it until 1999, the year of his death.

Keeping to these principles, Rosa Kraus Ley, daughter of Alfredo Kraus and Chair of the Foundation that upholds his artistic legacy, and Antonio Morales Méndez, President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, decided to revive the competition in 2017, 18 years after the first phase came to an end.

The precepts of the competition remain unaltered: participation of young singers from Spain and abroad, judged by an artistically competent jury, at an event held in the capital city of Gran Canaria, the tenor’s birthplace.

The esteemed patronage of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the collaboration of Fundación Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria have been fundamental to bring this ambitious project to fruition. Further collaboration has been provided by Fundación Canaria Auditorio y Teatro de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Spanish and European theatres that have collaborated with the competition so far.

Photos by Nacho González / FIAK.