During the presentation in Madrid, the Fundación Internacional Alfredo Kraus, chaired by Rosa Kraus Ley, launched the IX Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus (CICAK), which will be held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from 24 to 30 September with Italian tenor and conductor Giuseppe Sabbatini as jury chair.

Following the tradition established in 2017, when the second phase of the singing competition began, the launch in Madrid took place in the foyer of Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela, one of the collaborating entities of the competition.

The speakers at the launch were Rosa Kraus Ley, Chair of the FIAK and the CICAK, Mario Pontiggia, Artistic Director of the foundation and the singing competition, and Daniel Bianco, Director of Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela. Also attending the launch were Carmen Alonso de la Joya, youngest daughter of Francisco Alonso López, and his grandson Francisco Valencia Alonso, chair of Legado Maestro Alonso CB, collaborators in the ninth singing competition.

Daniel Bianco highlighted the ongoing interest in collaborating with the CICAK as a way to give young singers the chance to enter the labour market through the competition. He also spoke about Alfredo Kraus, who had strong links with the theatre after it reopened in 1956.

Rosa Kraus Ley thanked the director of La Zarzuela, praising the theatre for its tributes to her father and the three years it has collaborated with the singing competition. After mentioning the esteemed patronage of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, the institution that has enabled the competition to be held since 2017, she thanked the other collaborating entities: Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa), and Auditorio Alfredo Kraus (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).

Rosa Kraus Ley named the other participants, including tenor and conductor Giuseppe Sabbatini (jury chair), the representatives of the theatres in Milan and Genoa and Ópera de Montecarlo, ABAO de Bilbao and ACO (Ópera de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), and one honorary member. She also mentioned the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, the orchestra closely associated with Alfredo Kraus, which will be conducted at this year’s final gala performance by maestro Óliver Díaz.

Preliminary round in Madrid

Speaking at the closure of the launch, Mario Pontiggia provided an overview of the three previous competitions and outlined the new repertoire for the competition, which has received more than 50 applications a month before entries close. He also spoke about the preliminary round in Madrid, from Wednesday 24 to Friday 26 May, in the Sala Brístol and the Sala de Coro at Teatro de la Zarzuela, in which 22 applicants will be assessed.