II International Singing Competition
The Savonlinna Opera Festival is to hold its second International Singing Competition at the Savonlinna Hall in summer 2012.
Competition schedule
Round I at the Savonlinna Hall at 15.00 on Tuesday July 24
Round II at the Savonlinna Hall at 15.00 on Wednesday July 25
Round III at the Savonlinna Hall at 15.00 on Thursday July 26
Finals in Olavinlinna Castle at 19.00 on Sunday July 29
The competition has one category and is open to singers of all nationalities born in or after 1982. The aim is to discover promising new opera singers and the repertoire accordingly consists solely of operatic arias.
The Savonlinna Opera Festival held its first International Singing Competition in Savonlinna on July 20-25, 2010. The first prize was shared by Pretty Yende (South Africa) and Michele Angelini (USA), and the third prize went to Elena Guseva (Russia).
Accomplished singers from all over the world
“The Savonlinna Opera Festival has been holding the Timo Mustakallio Competition in collaboration with the Timo Mustakallio Foundation since 1974,” reports the Festival’s General Director Jan Hultin. “This competition was already well established as an arena for young Finnish singers, but the time had come to arrange an international competition focusing on opera and designed for slightly more experienced singers. The Savonlinna Opera Festival has many strengths as the organiser of an international singing competition: it is well-known to the international community, it is held in the unique and acoustically excellent milieu of Olavinlinna Castle, and it is a chance for singers to perform to a well-informed audience with the Opera Festival Orchestra. The fact that the competition is held in July means singers who already have contracts can also take part. It is our belief that these and other strengths make Savonlinna’s stand out from the singing competitions held elsewhere in the world. We are also confident that the Savonlinna competition is of interest to the persons and agents responsible for engaging singers for opera houses.”
“The members of the competition Jury are directors of international opera houses, who thus have an opportunity to hear new, young singers and possibly engage them for their own productions,” adds Jari Hämäläinen, Artistic Director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
The Timo Mustakallio Competition is being developed in collaboration with the Timo Mustakallio Foundation, enhancing its profile more and more as an arena for promising young Finns.