Gran Canarian soprano Yolanda Auyanet to chair X Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus
- Cabildo de Gran Canaria and Fundación Internacional Alfredo Kraus are calling for applications for the tenth singing competition, to be held at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from 21 to 27 September
- The Preliminary Rounds will be held in June at Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela (Madrid) and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence), and in September at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)
The Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Fundación Internacional Alfredo Kraus (FIAK) are inviting applications for the X Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus (X CICAK), to be held at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from 21 to 27 September 2025.
During a press conference held at the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Cabildo President Antonio Morales Méndez and the Chair of the FIAK, Rosa Kraus Ley, announced the internationally renowned members of the jury for this year’s competition. The Jury Chair for the X CICAK will be well-known Gran Canarian soprano Yolanda Auyanet.
Speaking at the conference, Antonio Morales said that “the competition was designed and directed by Alfredo Kraus from 1990 to 1999, the year our international tenor passed away, and, unfortunately, it wasn’t held again until 2017, when it resumed with the same format of a biennial event”. Morales added that “several circumstances make this year’s competition special, the tenth time the event has been held. The coalition I’ve headed since 2015 revived the competition in 2017 and has continued to hold it until 2025, making it a leading opera event, with the international prestige of one of the greatest bel canto figures, our Alfredo Kraus, and the discipline and careful organisation that have characterised the competition since it began”.
The next competition will be in 2027, the centenary of the birth of Alfredo Kraus, “which will be a major challenge because of the immense figure of our tenor and his international reputation”, according to Morales, who added that “our island has historically demonstrated a love for opera, culture and the arts in general, through the large number of prominent performers and music researchers and the creation of leading international entities and activities. Culture is an ecosystem that develops when society and its institutions look out for and support each other”.
Rosa Kraus provided details of the 10th competition, explaining that the jury members will include representatives from the collaborating theatres: Isamay Benavente (director of Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela, Madrid) and Giovanni Vitali (Casting Consultant, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence). They’ll be joined by Alessandro Galoppini (Casting Manager, Teatro alla Scala, Milan), Alessandro Di Gloria (Casting Manager, Teatro dell’Opera, Rome), Javier Menéndez (General Director, Teatro de La Maestranza, Seville), and Ulises Jaén (General and Artistic Manager, ACO – Ópera Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).
As in the last four 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 X CICAK, as Secretary.
Applications and venues for the competition rounds
The X CICAK 2025 is open to singers of all nationalities aged 18 to 33 for soprano, countertenor and tenor voices, and 18 to 36 for mezzosoprano, contralto, baritone, bass-baritone and bass voices.
Singers who’d like to take part can apply using the online application form available to download on the competition website (www.cicakraus.es). The closing dates for applications are 26 May (Madrid), 3 June (Florence) and 27 June (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria).
The Preliminary Rounds will be held at Teatro Nacional de La Zarzuela, Madrid (5 and 6 June), Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence (13 and 14 June), and Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (18, 19 and 20 September). Applicants will be judged by a tribunal comprising the Chair and the Artistic Director of the FIAK and the X CICAK and representatives of the collaborating institutions hosting each round.
The Semi-final (21, 22 and 23 September) and Final round (27 September) will be held at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, the emblematic building opened by the tenor in 1997. At both of these rounds, contestants will be judged by the jury of the X CICAK. The final round, where the prize giving will take place, will be held as a public performance with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, the official orchestra since the first competition, in 1990, conducted by maestro Oliver Díaz.
Prizes
Contestants in the X 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 from the patronage of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria.
In addition to these four official prizes, three Special Prizes are available: the Fundación Martín Chirino de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Prize, of 2,500 euros, a medal and a diploma, for the best opera singer; the Legado Maestro Alonso CB Prize, of 2,000 euros, a plaque and a diploma, for the best zarzuela singer; and the Bodega El Grifo Prize, on the 250th anniversary of the winery, of 2,000 euros, a plaque and a diploma, for the best bel canto singer. Contestants in the X CICAK will also have the chance to receive invitations to auditions, master classes, productions, concerts and 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 contest in 2017, 18 years after the first phase came to an end. The original precepts of the competition remain unaltered: participation of young singers from around the world, 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 in bringing this ambitious project to fruition. Further collaboration has been provided by Fundación Canaria Auditorio y Teatro de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Spanish and European theatres that have formed part of the event since 2017, and the contribution of special prizes for the competition from public and private patronage.
