• After the preliminary rounds in Madrid and Florence, the CICAK will evaluate participants at the Naples round on 5 and 6 July

Fundación Internacional Alfredo Kraus and Cabildo de Gran Canaria, organisers of the VII Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus, announced that 105 singers from 31 countries had applied for the singing competition by the applications closing date on Thursday 20 June.

The applicants comprised 52 sopranos, 15 mezzo-sopranos, 2 countertenors, 15 tenors, 14 baritones, 4 bass-baritones and 3 basses. The 31 countries of origin of the singers are Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine the United Kingdom, the United Sates and Venezuela.

Some of the applicants have already been evaluated by a commission comprising Rosa Kraus Ley, Chair of the FIAK, competition artistic director Mario Pontiggia, and members of the management team of the collaborating institutions in Madrid and Florence, where the first preliminary rounds were held. The next preliminary round is in Naples, on 5 and 6 July.

The auditorium opened by the tenor in 1997, Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, will host the semi-final (23 and 24 September) and the final round (28 September) of the seventh competition. The final round will be held as a public concert, with accompaniment by the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Oliver Díaz, before the prize giving.

Preliminary round in Madrid

Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela was the venue for the preliminary round held in Madrid on 17 and 18 June. Young singers from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Mexico and Ukraine signed up for the auditions. The members of the tribunal were Rosa Kraus Ley, Chair of the FIAK and the VII CICAK; Daniel Bianco, director of the Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela; Raúl Asenjo, member of the theatre management team; and Mario Pontiggia, artistic director of the FIAK and the VII CICAK.

After listening to all the participants, the tribunal considered 14 candidates eligible to enter the semi-final round in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Manuel Fuentes Figueira (bass-baritone); Olga Syniakova (mezzo-soprano); Ethel Trujillo Amezcua (soprano); Yusniel Estrada Viciedo (tenor); Catalina González Guajardo (soprano); Inés Lorans Millán (soprano); Vanessa Cera Bula (soprano); Margarita Rodríguez Martín (soprano); Andrea Jiménez Mateo (soprano); Raquel del Pino Herranz (soprano); María Ayestarán Garralda (soprano); José Manuel González Caro (baritone); Mariana Isaza Taborda (soprano) and Lucas Somoza Osterc (baritone).

Preliminary round in Florence

Before the Madrid round, the first preliminary round was held in Florence, at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre, on 15 and 16 June. Young singers from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United States took part. The tribunal, comprising Rosa Kraus Ley, maestro Marzio Conti and Mario Pontiggia, considered eight candidates eligible to go on to the semi-final round in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Nikoleta Kapetanidou (soprano), Ana Machado (soprano), Raoni Hübner (tenor), Christina Campsall (mezzo-soprano), Dongyoung An (baritone), Paulo Paolillo (tenor), Aigaku Kishinami (tenor) and Qi Ling (soprano).