60th INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION VOCI VERDIANE CITTÀ DI BUSSETO

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by Opera Charm Team

August 30, 2024

Registrations are now open for the competition dedicated to singers between 18 and 38 of age

The competition will take place from September 2^nd to 7^th, launched by the Municipality of Busseto in honor and memory of the renowned tenor Carlo Bergonzi on the centenary of his birth.

This edition is realized with the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism, held by the competition president Stefano Nevicati and organized by Teatro Regio di Parma.

Carlo Fontana as the President of the jury composed by Jonathan Friend, Alessandro Galoppini, Francesco Izzo, Pal Moe, Cristiano Sandri, Karen Stone, Ilias Tzempetonidis.

This special edition will also feature a second jury of professionals and enthusiasts, selected by the Municipality of Busseto, who will award a special prize at the Final Concert with Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, conducted by Fabrizio Cassi.

Application deadline: June 28^th, 2024

Applications for the 60th International Competition Voci Verdiane Città di Busseto are officially open from May 27 to June 28, 2024. The competition is launched by the Municipality of Busseto, in honor and memory of the famous tenor Carlo Bergonzi on the centenary of his birth, organized with the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism, chaired by the Mayor of Busseto Stefano Nevicati and organized by Teatro Regio di Parma.

Dedicated to any opera singer between 18 and 35 years of age (sopranos and tenors) and between 18 and 38 years of age (mezzo-sopranos, contraltos, baritones and basses), the competition will take place in Busseto from September 2 to 7, 2024. Applications must be submitted exclusively online within 2.00 pm (UTC+1) of June 28, 2024 by creating a profile at the following links in relation to the different categories: sopranos, tenors and mezzo-sopranos, contraltos, baritones and basses, presenting two audio-video recordings and the documentation indicated in the announcement (available at teatroregioparma.it and vociverdiane.com).

In the Preliminary phase of the competition, a maximum of 50 candidates will be selected. Such a phase will take place on the basis of the documentation presented and of the audio-video materials provided by the candidates, which will be evaluated by the Artistic director of Teatro Regio di Parma Alessio Vlad and by the Didactic director of the Accademia Verdiana Francesco Izzo. All admissions to the Competition phase will be communicated via email to the selected candidates by July 15, 2024.

The Competition phase will take place from September 2 to 7 at Teatro Verdi di Busseto according to the following calendar: Preliminary round (September 2 and 3, where a maximum of 24 semi-finalists will be selected), Semi-final round (September 4, where a maximum of 12 finalists will be selected), Musical rehearsals of the finalists with piano and orchestra (September 6) and the Final Concert open to the public (September 7), where the finalists will be accompanied by Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini conducted by Fabrizio Cassi and where all winners will be finally announced.

In this edition, a relevant new section of the competition will be represented by the Vocal coaching day for all finalists (September 5), where each of them will be able to prepare the aria that they will perform at the Final Concert together with Francesco Izzo.

The first four classified at China Voci Verdiane 2024 will also take part in this competition according to the following methods: the first classified will be directly admitted to the Final Concert, the second classified will be admitted to the Semi-Final round and the third and fourth classified will be admitted to the Preliminary round.

Carlo Fontana will be the official President of the Jury, formed by Jonathan Friend (Metropolitan Opera, New York), Francesco Izzo (Teatro Regio di Parma), Pal Christian Moe (Glyndebourne Festival, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, The Norwegian National Opera, Narodni Divadlo Prague), Karen Stone (Opera Europa), and for the Final Concert by Alessandro Galoppini (Teatro alla Scala, Milano), Cristiano Sandri (Teatro Regio di Torino), Ilias Tzempetonidis (Teatro San Carlo di Napoli).

The Jury will award the first three classified competitors the 1st Prize of 8.000 €, the 2nd Prize of 5.000 €, the 3rd Prize of 3.000 €. Teatro Regio di Parma will select at least one of the finalists to sign for his artistic activity during the year 2025. Similarly, the representatives of other theaters on the jury will be able to reward any finalist candidate with artistic writings, regardless of the final ranking.

On the occasion of the 60th International Competition Voci Verdiane, a second Jury of professionals and enthusiasts – selected by the Municipality of Busseto and active only for the Final Concert – will award its special prize.

The first three classified competitors and any other finalist candidates recommended by the Jury will be invited to participate at Concerto dei Vincitori (the Winners’ Concert) accompanied by a piano. The performance will take place in the spring 2025 in Roncole Verdi (Busseto) right at Giuseppe Verdi’s birthplace.

The complete regulations and registration links for the 60th International Competition Voci Verdiane Città di Busseto are available online at vociverdiane.com and on teatroregioparma.it.

More info: Secretariat of the International Competition Voci Verdiane Città di Busseto, vociverdiane@teatroregioparma.it

The 60th International Competition Voci Verdiane Città di Busseto is launched by the Municipality of Busseto and organized by Teatro Regio di Parma. With the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism, Regione Emilia-Romagna and Rai per la sostenibilità ESG. With the support of Ministero della Cultura, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Fondazione Cariparma. In collaboration with La Toscanini, Istituto Nazionale di Studi Verdiani. Media partnership Rai Cultura.

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Alice Lechner

Alice Lechner comes from a music-loving family. Her first encounter with the opera universe was at the tender age of six. The grandeur of the stage productions and costumes, the backstage chatter, and last, but definitely not least, the music left her in awe, beginning with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The overall feeling that opera awakens in anyone who gets a glimpse into this part of artistic eternity, that each and every day passes the test of time, was what drew her to stay and be a part of this world. The Opera House of Brașov became her second home, and the people who worked there were her second family.

Since then, Alice has devoted her spare time to maximising her musical knowledge through instrumental studies, studying both piano and violin for a short time. In the following years, her number one passion stepped out of the limelight and graciously gave way to Law Studies.
Since 2018 she has been studying Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.

Her passion for opera, even if it is no longer her top professional priority in terms of career, it has most definitely become her priority during her free time. Wanting to experience the best of both worlds and extend her musical horizons, she regularly attends opera performances throughout Romania and abroad.
With OPERA Charm Magazine, Alice aims to nurture her creative side to help it flourish and bloom and to discover, alongside the magazine’s readers, the fascinatingly complex world of opera.

Currently, she is an LL.M. in Business Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.

Oana Zamfir

Oana Zamfir is a second year MA student at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts, at the Department of Musicology.

She studied violin for 12 years at the “Stefan Luchian” High School of Art in Botosani, later focusing on the theoretical aspects of music. In 2019 she completed her bachelor studies in Musicology as a student of the National Academy of Music “Gheorghe Dima” in Cluj-Napoca. Her research during 2018-2019 brought to the forefront elements of the archaic ritual within works of composers who activated during the communist period, giving her the opportunity to start a research internship at the “Carl von Ossietzky” University in Germany. In this context, she recorded conversations with members of the Sophie Drinker Institute in Bremen, and had access to documents directly from the Myriam Marbé archive.

Since 2019 she has been a teacher of Music Education and Theoretical Music Studies, making full use of interactive methods in the musical training of students and working, at the same time, with the children’s choir founded in the first year of her activity.

Her interests include pursuing a degree in interior design in 2020.

Alexandru Suciu

Alexandru Suciu inherited his passion for art growing up in a family of several generations of musicians. He began his musical studies at the “Augustin Bena” School of Music in Cluj, where he studied piano and guitar. Even though his main study direction was philological, his passion for music prevailed. He began his academical journey at the Faculty of Letters of the “Babeș-Bolyai” University, studying Comparative literature and English. He continued by studying Opera Singing at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy. He also graduated the Musical Education section, followed by Artistic Directing at the Musical Performing Arts department.

His multidisciplinary education opened the doors towards research, which is seen both through his participation in national and international conferences and symposia, such as the Salzburg Easter School PhD-forum, organized by the Salzburg Universität or the Silesian Meeting of Young Scholars, organized by the Institute of English at the University of Silesia, as well as the collaboration with Opera Charm Magazine.

During his student years, he won several prizes, including the Grand Prize at the “Paul Constantinescu” National Musical Interpretation Competition, the Romanian Composers and Musicologists’ Union Prize at the same competition, the First Prize and the Schubert Prize at the “Ada Ulubeanu” Competition.

He further developed his artistic skills by specializing in courses and masterclasses held by personalities such as Vittorio Terranova, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Marian Pop, Ines Salazar, Riccardo Zanellato, Paolo Bosisio, Valentina Farcaș and Manuel Lange in contexts such as the Internationale Sommerakademie für Operngesang Deutschlandsberg, Corso Internazionale di Canto Lirico I.M.C. Licata or the Europäische Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst Montepulciano. Besides his activity on-stage, he currently teaches Opera Singing Didactics, and Pedagogical Practice within the Department for Teacher Education and Training at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy.

Cristina Fieraru

Cristina is a 24 year-old Romanian soprano & a student at the National University of Music Bucharest, where she pursues the MA program in Vocal Performance.

She made her debut in Pamina from “Die Zauberflöte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at only 19 years old at the Bucharest National Opera House, as a member of the Ludovic Spiess Experimental Opera Studio. Over the years she made her debut in roles such as Contessa d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Mimì & Musetta (La Bohème), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) in her university’s opera productions.
Her passion and experience extends in the field of choral music, too.

She has been part of our dream team since the fall of 2021. For a good period of time she took care of OPERA Charm’s social media and took you on the monthly journey through the history of opera through our Legends rubric – and a few times through the Theaters around the World rubric.

Her little soul rubric – from 2021 to present – is definitely the Conductors of the Future, where, every month, she gives you the chance to meet a young star of the world of conducting and, of course, to find out what’s the most charming feature of opera in these artists’ views.

BIANCA L. NICA

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