{"id":460,"date":"2017-09-26T22:07:10","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T22:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/?p=460"},"modified":"2021-10-03T22:07:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T22:07:32","slug":"gran-canaria-unveils-new-young-opera-talents-to-the-world-at-the-final-of-vi-concurso-internacional-de-canto-alfredo-kraus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/gran-canaria-unveils-new-young-opera-talents-to-the-world-at-the-final-of-vi-concurso-internacional-de-canto-alfredo-kraus\/","title":{"rendered":"Gran Canaria unveils new young opera talents to the world at the final of VI Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u2022 The winners will be chosen on\u00a0Friday 29 September<\/strong>, starting at\u00a020.00 hours<\/strong>, from among the\u00a060 contestants<\/strong>\u00a0in the semi-final.
\n\u2022 The jury, chaired by Catalonian tenor\u00a0Jaime Aragall<\/strong>, will announce the prize winners at a public performance with the\u00a0Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra<\/strong>, conducted by maestro\u00a0Miguel P\u00e9rez-Sierra<\/strong>.
\n\u2022 Tickets for the final, to be held in the\u00a0Auditorio Alfredo Kraus<\/strong>, are on sale at\u00a0www.auditorioteatrolaspalmasgc.es<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0www.auditorio-alfredokraus.com<\/a>, and at ticket offices at the Auditorium and Teatro P\u00e9rez Gald\u00f3s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the last two weeks Gran Canaria has become a world focus for young opera talent as it prepares to hold the final round of singing competition\u00a0VI Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus<\/strong>, an initiative of\u00a0Gran Canaria Cabildo<\/strong>\u00a0(Island Council) and the\u00a0Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus<\/strong>\u00a0intended to discover young singers of opera and zarzuela. After the preliminary round on Gran Canaria and the semi-final, which ends on Tuesday 26 September, the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, in the island\u2019s capital city, will be the venue on for the\u00a0final of the competition<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a0Friday 29 September<\/strong>\u00a0at\u00a020.00 hours<\/strong>, when the prize winners will be announced.<\/p>\n

During a press conference held in the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, the President of the Gran Canaria Cabildo,\u00a0Antonio Morales<\/strong>, the Chair of the Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus,\u00a0Rosa Kraus Ley<\/strong>, and the members of the official jury of the VI CICAK, chaired by tenor\u00a0Jaime Aragall<\/strong>, gave an overview of the competition rounds and explained the details of the final show devised by the artistic director of Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus,\u00a0Mario Pontiggia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Symphonic Hall of the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus is the venue for the\u00a0final and the prize giving<\/strong>, which will include a public audience. The competition finalists will be accompanied at this event by the\u00a0Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra<\/strong>, conducted by maestro Miguel P\u00e9rez-Sierra. Tickets for the final are on sale at\u00a0www.auditorioteatrolaspalmasgc.es<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0www.auditorio-alfredokraus.com<\/a>, and at ticket offices at the Auditorium and Teatro P\u00e9rez Gald\u00f3s. The final will be recorded and transmitted in a delayed broadcast by\u00a0Radio Televisi\u00f3n Canaria<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The finalists will be chosen from the semi-final round being held on Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 September in the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus.\u00a0Sixty candidates<\/strong>\u00a0have made it to this stage:\u00a0seven were chosen<\/strong>\u00a0in the preliminary round held in\u00a0Madrid<\/strong>;\u00a012<\/strong>\u00a0were successful in\u00a0Florence<\/strong>;\u00a0nine<\/strong>\u00a0were selected at the round in\u00a0Gran Canaria<\/strong>\u00a0on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September; and\u00a032 candidates gained direct entry after finishing as finalists in other international competitions<\/strong>, as allowed by the rules of the VI CICAK.<\/p>\n

A total of\u00a0100 singers of 22 nationalities<\/strong>\u00a0applied for the VI CICAK, considerably exceeding the number of entries in the five previous events. Applicants were from Angola, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.<\/p>\n

Jaime Aragall to chair jury<\/strong><\/p>\n

The final decision of the VI CICAK will be made by a prestigious jury chaired by tenor\u00a0Jaime Aragall<\/strong>. Born in Barcelona, Jaime Aragall began his studies in the city of his birth and completed them in Milan on a scholarship from Gran Teatro del Liceu. The young tenor debuted at La Fenice (Venice), and went on to perform in major theatres including La Scala (Milan), Opera di Roma, Regio di Parma, Arena di Verona, Carlo Felice (Genoa), Regio (Turin), San Carlo (Naples) and Massimo (Palermo). Jaime Aragall has appeared frequently during seasons at Barcelona\u2019s Gran Teatro del Liceu and performed at Covent Garden (London), the Paris Opera, the New York Metropolitan Opera House, the Berlin Opera, the San Francisco Opera House, the Columbus Theatre (Buenos Aires), the Edinburgh Festival and the Festival of Orange, and the Vienna State Opera, where he was awarded the prestigious title of Kammers\u00e4nger, previously bestowed on Alfredo Kraus.<\/p>\n

With an extensive repertoire ranging from bel canto to works by Verdi, Puccini, Gounod and Massenet, Jaime Aragall has made many recordings including rare gems of opera, singing with the world\u2019s leading opera performers.<\/p>\n

Aragall has had a long relationship with Gran Canaria, having sung 11 operas in the Teatro P\u00e9rez Gald\u00f3s, starting in 1974 when he took part in the ACO seasons in Faust and Manon. This was followed by La Boh\u00e8me (1976), Lucia di Lammermoor and La Traviata (1977), Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur and a Werther that was finally not performed (1979), Don Carlo and Madam Butterfly (1981), Simon Boccanegra (1989) and Un Ballo in Maschera (1991). In 2007 he received the Premio \u00d3pera Actual award in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for his entire career, as well as an award from the Canary Islands Friends of the Opera for his career.<\/p>\n

The members of the jury are\u00a0Joan Matabosch<\/strong>, artistic director of Madrid\u2019s Royal Theatre;\u00a0Daniel Bianco<\/strong>, artistic director of the National Zarzuela Theatre (Madrid);\u00a0Ernesto Palacio<\/strong>, artistic director of the Rossini Opera Festival (Pesaro);\u00a0Pierangelo Conte<\/strong>, artistic coordinator of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino \/ Opera of Florence;\u00a0C\u00e9sar Wonenburger<\/strong>, artistic director of Friends of the Opera of A Coru\u00f1a;\u00a0Ulises Ja\u00e9n<\/strong>, artistic director of Canary Islands Friends of the Opera; and honorary members\u00a0Jer\u00f3nimo Saavedra Acevedo<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Guillermo Garc\u00eda-Alcalde<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Prizes and invitations to perform<\/strong><\/p>\n

Participants in the VI Concurso de Canto Alfredo Kraus will be competing for substantial monetary prizes thanks to financial assistance from the Gran Canaria Cabildo. Three\u00a0official prizes<\/strong>\u00a0of\u00a014,000<\/strong>,\u00a012,000<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a010,000 euros<\/strong>\u00a0will be awarded.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0special prizes<\/strong>\u00a0include 3,000 euros from\u00a0Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall<\/strong>\u00a0for the best singer of Spanish nationality and the\u00a0Audience Prize<\/strong>\u00a0of 2,500 euros for the singer who receives most votes from the audience attending the final round.<\/p>\n

Contestants will also be eligible to receive\u00a0invitations to perform<\/strong>. The\u00a0Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra<\/strong>\u00a0will invite the winner of the first prize to perform with it in one of the following two seasons (2018 or 2019), including travel and accommodation expenses; the\u00a0Fundaci\u00f3n Canaria Auditorio y Teatro de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria<\/strong>\u00a0will invite one of the winners to give a recital in the Chamber Hall of the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, also with expenses paid; and\u00a0Madrid Royal Theatre<\/strong>,\u00a0National Zarzuela Theatre<\/strong>,\u00a0Rossini Opera Festival<\/strong>,\u00a0Pesaro<\/strong>,\u00a0the Opera of Florence<\/strong>,\u00a0Friends of the Opera of A Coru\u00f1a<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Canary Islands Friends of the Opera<\/strong>\u00a0will offer auditions for upcoming productions to one or more competition prize winners.<\/p>\n

Medals designed by Gara Mart\u00edn Kraus, the maestro\u2019s granddaughter<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to the prize money and a diploma, the first three prize winners will receive a medal designed by Gara Mart\u00edn Kraus, granddaughter of maestro Alfredo Kraus.<\/p>\n

Gara began her studies in Jewellery and Gemology in Madrid in 1998 and completed them in Florence (Italy) in 2002, qualifying as a professional jewellery designer. She has been chosen to work on new collection projects for Swarovski, taken part in Ego Madrid Fashion Week and won a number of awards. Her collections are inspired by the landscapes, colours, textures and the essence of the Canary Islands. Her pieces transmit the energy and movement of the sea and of lava as it cools, and the colours and the beauty of the islands. All of these elements have also been the inspiration for the medals designed as prizes for the VI CICAK.<\/p>\n

Candidates chosen in Madrid<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first preliminary round of VI CICAK 2017 was held on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 June in the theatre at the Madrid School of Singing.\u00a0Sixteen applicants from five countries took part.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The seven contestants chosen by the judging panel were sopranos\u00a0Berna Perles<\/strong>,\u00a0Blanca Valido<\/strong>,\u00a0Mar\u00eda del Alba Moreno Chantar<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Anna Niebla Guarinos<\/strong>\u00a0from Spain and\u00a0Olena Sloia<\/strong>\u00a0from Ukraine; and mezzo-sopranos\u00a0Olga Syniakova<\/strong>\u00a0from Ukraine and\u00a0Elizabeth Gillming<\/strong>\u00a0from France.<\/p>\n

The judging panel comprised the Chair of the Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus and the VI CICAK,\u00a0Rosa Kraus Ley<\/strong>; the artistic director of the Singing Competition and the Foundation,\u00a0Mario Pontiggia<\/strong>; the director of the Madrid School of Singing,\u00a0Julio Alexis Mu\u00f1oz<\/strong>, and the School\u2019s deputy director,\u00a0Sara Matarranz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Candidates chosen in Florence<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the auditions of the second preliminary round of VI CICAK 2017, at the Opera of Florence,\u00a026 candidates of seven nationalities<\/strong>\u00a0applied. After 24 had performed (two stood down due to illness), the judges cast votes from two to nine points and considered applicants with a score of seven or more eligible to enter the semi-final round in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The 12 contestants chosen by the judges were\u00a0Eunhee Kim<\/strong>\u00a0(Soprano \/ South Korea),\u00a0Tommaso Barea<\/strong>\u00a0(Bass-baritone \/ Italy),\u00a0Eleonora Bellocci<\/strong>, (Soprano \/ Italy),\u00a0Hoerim Park<\/strong>\u00a0(Tenor \/ South Korea),\u00a0Benjamin Cho<\/strong>\u00a0(Baritone \/ South Korea),\u00a0Eduardo Pialli<\/strong>\u00a0(Baritone \/ Colombia \u2013 Italy),\u00a0Yauci Yanes<\/strong>\u00a0(Tenor \/ Spain),\u00a0Lena Kutzner<\/strong>\u00a0(Soprano \/ Germany),\u00a0Qianming Dou<\/strong>\u00a0(Baritone \/ China),\u00a0Cecilia Gaetani<\/strong>\u00a0(Mezzo-soprano \/ Italy),\u00a0Chiara Mogini<\/strong>\u00a0(Soprano \/ Italy) and\u00a0Manuel Rodr\u00edguez Remiro<\/strong>\u00a0(Tenor \/ Spain).<\/p>\n

The judging panel comprised\u00a0Rosa Kraus Ley<\/strong>, Chair of Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus, and\u00a0Mario Pontiggia<\/strong>, artistic director of the Foundation, and from the Opera of Florence, maestro\u00a0Gianni Tangucci<\/strong>, coordinator of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy, and\u00a0Giovanni Vitali<\/strong>, head of cultural promotion. The judges were joined by\u00a0Laura Kraus Ley<\/strong>, member of Fundaci\u00f3n Alfredo Kraus.<\/p>\n

Candidates chosen in Gran Canaria<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the auditions held in Gran Canaria on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September, the panel cast its vote and considered nine applicants eligible to go on to the semi-final round:\u00a0Carlos Alberto Vel\u00e1zquez Acu\u00f1a<\/strong>\u00a0(Tenor \/ Mexico);\u00a0Nina-Mario Fischer<\/strong>\u00a0(Soprano \/ Germany-Poland);\u00a0Jasper Leever<\/strong>\u00a0(Bass-baritone \/ The Netherlands);\u00a0M\u00f3nica Soto-Gil Castro<\/strong>\u00a0(Mezzo-soprano \/ Mexico);\u00a0Danae Eleni<\/strong>\u00a0(Soprano \/ Greece);\u00a0Sara Paone<\/strong>\u00a0(Mezzo-soprano \/ Italy);\u00a0Arisbe de la Barrera Ram\u00edrez<\/strong>\u00a0(Soprano \/ Mexico);\u00a0Clare Ghigo<\/strong>\u00a0(Mezzo-soprano \/ Malta); and\u00a0Jennifer Ram\u00edrez D\u00edaz<\/strong>\u00a0(Mezzo-soprano \/ Spain).<\/p>\n

The judging panel, comprising the Chair of Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus and the VI CICAK,\u00a0Rosa Kraus Ley<\/strong>, the Deputy Programming Director of Auditorio Alfredo Kraus,\u00a0Manuel Ben\u00edtez Rodr\u00edguez<\/strong>, and the artistic director of the Foundation and the VI CICAK,\u00a0Mario Pontiggia<\/strong>, were responsible for the auditions of the applicants, who were accompanied by maestro\u00a0Juan Francisco Parra<\/strong>, official pianist for the competition.<\/p>\n

NOTE: Media wishing to cover the Final of the VI CICAK must have accreditation. To apply for accreditation, please send your details to press@cicakraus.com. Media wishing to conduct interviews may send requests to the same email address.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022 The winners will be chosen on\u00a0Friday 29 September, starting at\u00a020.00 hours, from among the\u00a060 contestants\u00a0in the semi-final. \u2022 The jury, chaired by Catalonian tenor\u00a0Jaime Aragall, will announce the prize […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":462,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions\/462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}