{"id":499,"date":"2021-09-26T23:58:20","date_gmt":"2021-09-26T23:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/?p=499"},"modified":"2021-10-04T00:00:01","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T00:00:01","slug":"ukrainian-mezzo-soprano-olga-syniakova-wins-first-prize-at-viii-concurso-internacional-de-canto-alfredo-kraus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/ukrainian-mezzo-soprano-olga-syniakova-wins-first-prize-at-viii-concurso-internacional-de-canto-alfredo-kraus\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Olga Syniakova wins first prize at VIII Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u2022 Portuguese sopranos Regina Freire and Susana Vieira were second and third placegetters, respectively
\n\u2022 Spanish soprano Teresa Villena won the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall prize for the best Spanish singer
\n\u2022 Olga Syniakova took another prize after receiving most votes from the audience during the final gala performance at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus
\n\u2022 The President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales M\u00e9ndez, and the Chair of the FIAK, Rosa Kraus Ley, highlighted the level of participation in the competition – 124 applicants from 28 countries \u2013 and the considerable vocal and performance skills of the 10 finalists<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus (FIAK) and the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, organisers of the\u00a0VIII Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus (CICAK)<\/strong>, have announced that\u00a0Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Olga Syniakova<\/strong>\u00a0took\u00a0first prize<\/strong>\u00a0in the competition, after contestants were assessed by the jury chaired by Mexican tenor Francisco Araiza at a public performance on Saturday 25 September at Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Olga Syniakova also received the\u00a0audience prize<\/strong>.
\nThe other placegetters at the VIII CICAK were\u00a0Portuguese sopranos Regina<\/strong>\u00a0Freire (second prize) and Susana Vieira (third prize)<\/strong>, and soprano\u00a0Teresa Villena, who was awarded the\u00a0<\/strong>Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall\u00a0<\/strong>prize for the best singer of Spanish nationality. The\u00a0Fundaci\u00f3n Mart\u00edn Chirino Las Palmas de Gran Canaria prize\u00a0<\/strong>for the best Canary Islands singer was not awarded, because no Canary Islands candidates took part in the final.<\/p>\n

The final gala performance of the VIII CICAK was given by 10 singers chosen from the 124 applicants from 28 countries. The finalists were accompanied by the\u00a0Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra<\/strong>, conducted by maestro\u00a0\u00d3liver D\u00edaz<\/strong>.
\nIn addition to the four prize winners, six other finalists had the opportunity to showcase their vocal and performance skills:\u00a0Germ\u00e1n Alc\u00e1ntara<\/strong>\u00a0(baritone \/ Argentina),\u00a0James Kim<\/strong>\u00a0(tenor \/ South Korea),\u00a0John Lim<\/strong>\u00a0(bass \/ South Korea),\u00a0Yulia Merkudinova<\/strong>\u00a0(soprano \/ Ukraine),\u00a0Cec\u00edlia Rodrigues<\/strong>\u00a0(soprano \/ Portugal), and\u00a0Ihor Voievodin<\/strong>\u00a0(bass-baritone \/ Ukraine).<\/p>\n

The prize giving included the President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria,\u00a0Antonio Morales M\u00e9ndez<\/strong>, the Chair of the Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus,\u00a0Rosa Kraus Ley<\/strong>, and the Chair of the Jury,\u00a0Francisco Araiza<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Both the President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Chair of the FIAK praised the participants\u2019 technical and artistic skills at the eighth singing competition, and expressed their satisfaction with the interest in the event, despite the difficulties due to the pandemic and its considerable impact on organisation.<\/p>\n

Rosa Kraus Ley said \u201cThe CICAK pursues the goal of excellence in art,\u201d one of the key aims of Alfredo Kraus since the contest began, in 1990. After expressing her satisfaction with the level of interest in the eighth competition, she thanked the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, the main supporter of this initiative, and the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall and Fundaci\u00f3n Mart\u00edn Chirino, for providing two of the prizes, and the collaborating Spanish and international theatres.<\/p>\n

Antonio Morales M\u00e9ndez said that the Cabildo was committed to supporting the biennial competition, as it has since 2017, the first year of the second phase of the CICAK. \u201cWe are firmly committed to art and culture and to upholding the legacy of Alfredo Kraus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The President of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria reiterated the intention of the institution to continue supporting the project for the museum dedicated to Alfredo Kraus, which will also house the FIAK. \u201cIn 2022, the Cabildo will assign funds from its budget for this purpose,\u201d he said. The museum will be located in part of a building in Vegueta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria\u2019s old town.<\/p>\n

Representatives from the collaborating theatres were also present at the prizegiving after the jury had made its decision:\u00a0Daniel Bianco<\/strong>, Director, Teatro de la Zarzuela (Madrid);\u00a0Luca Ioseffini<\/strong>, Academy Director, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence);\u00a0Elisabete Matos<\/strong>, Artistic Director, Teatro de S\u00e3o Carlos (Lisbon),\u00a0Alessandro Galoppini<\/strong>, Casting Manager, Teatro alla Scala (Milan);\u00a0Celestino Varela<\/strong>, General and Artistic Manager, \u00d3pera de Oviedo;\u00a0Ulises Ja\u00e9n<\/strong>, General and Artistic Manager, \u00d3pera de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria \/ ACO; and honorary member\u00a0Jer\u00f3nimo Saavedra Acevedo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Also on stage were\u00a0Juan Espino<\/strong>, Head of Culture, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall, and\u00a0Jes\u00fas Casta\u00f1o<\/strong>, Director of the Fundaci\u00f3n de Arte y Pensamiento Mart\u00edn Chirino.<\/p>\n

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

The\u00a0first prize<\/strong>, awarded to Ukrainian mezzo-soprano\u00a0Olga\u00a0<\/strong>Syniakova<\/strong>, was\u00a014,000 euros.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0second prize<\/strong>, which went to Portuguese soprano\u00a0Regina Freire<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/strong>was\u00a012,000 euros.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0third prize,\u00a0<\/strong>awarded\u00a0<\/strong>to Portuguese soprano\u00a0Susana Vieira<\/strong>, was\u00a010,000 euros.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The three official prizes of the CICAK also included a diploma and a medal designed by the tenor\u2019s granddaughter,\u00a0Gara Mart\u00edn Kraus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Two other prizes were awarded at the eighth competition:<\/p>\n

Spanish soprano\u00a0Teresa Villena\u00a0<\/strong>won the\u00a0<\/strong>Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall prize<\/strong>, of\u00a03,000 euros and\u00a0<\/strong>a diploma, for the best singer of Spanish nationality.<\/p>\n

Mezzo-soprano\u00a0Olga Syniakova<\/strong>\u00a0won two prizes in total, including the\u00a0audience prize<\/strong>, of\u00a02,500 euros<\/strong>, awarded by the\u00a0Cabildo de Gran Canaria<\/strong> for the contestant most voted by the audience during the final gala performance.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022 Portuguese sopranos Regina Freire and Susana Vieira were second and third placegetters, respectively \u2022 Spanish soprano Teresa Villena won the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall prize for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-499","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\/499","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=499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":500,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499\/revisions\/500"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}