Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus

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On Monday 26 June applications close for the preliminary round in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from 21 to 23 September, and direct entry into the semi-final round
The singers chosen at all the preliminary rounds will go on to the semi-final, taking place from 24 to 26 September at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The final of the competition, judged by a jury chaired by Italian tenor and conductor Giuseppe Sabbatini, will take place on 30 September at a public gala performance in the auditorium

The first stage of the IX Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus (IX CICAK), organised by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and Fundación Internacional Alfredo Kraus (FIAK), has been completed with the holding of the three preliminary rounds at Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid (24, 25 and 26 May), Teatro alla Scala, Milan (3 and 4 June), and Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa (7 and 8 June).

Twenty three singers from Bolivia, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Ukraine and Venezuela were eligible to pass on to the semi-final round (8 sopranos, 5 mezzo-sopranos, 2 tenors, 5 baritones, 1 bass-baritone and 2 basses).

The members of the tribunal that selected the young singers were Rosa Kraus Ley, Chair of the FIAK and the CICAK, Mario Pontiggia, Artistic Director of the foundation and the singing competition, and representatives of the collaborating theatres: Daniel Bianco, Director, Teatro de la Zarzuela (Madrid); Alessandro Galoppini, Casting Manager, Teatro alla Scala (Milan); and Pierangelo Conte, Artistic Director, Teatro Carlo Felice (Genoa). Singers in the preliminary rounds were accompanied by the official pianists of the IX CICAK: Ricardo Francia (Madrid), James Vaughan (Milan), and Sirio Restani (Genoa).

These 23 singers will join those selected at the preliminary round in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from 21 to 23 September, and applicants going straight to the semi-final round after finishing as finalists or winners in other prestigious singing competitions. In both cases, applications for the IX CICAK close on Monday 26 June.

The final stage of the IX CICAK will take place in Gran Canaria, at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, in the island’s capital city, where the tribunal in the preliminary rounds will be replaced by an international jury that will judge the semi-final round (24 to 26 September) and the final (30 September). The jury of the IX CICAK will be chaired by Italian tenor and conductor Giuseppe Sabbatini.

After the preliminary rounds in Madrid, Milan and Genoa, the first stage of the IX CICAK has been completed, with the collaboration of three highly significant theatres in the artistic career of Alfredo Kraus, who made his Spanish début in Madrid in 1956 at Teatro de la Zarzuela, where he performed in 32 productions in a collaboration spanning 40 years. At Teatro alla Scala, Milan, the Gran Canarian tenor first performed in 1960, taking part in various recitals and 18 productions until 1993. At Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, Kraus performed from 1957 to 1980, in 11 productions and one concert. The echoes of the IX CICAK across Europe and in the media as a result of these collaborations reflect the living memory imprinted on these theatres by Alfredo Kraus throughout his careeer.