A Network for Success

Recap Prize Winners Concert 2025

On May 21st, our annual Prize Winners' concert took place in Berlin
under the title Shéhérazade, this time again in the special ambience of the Apollosaal of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. Our six prize winners of the 2024 competition - Anita Monserrat, Magdalena Lucjan, Martina Russomanno, Ian Rucker, Finn Sagal and Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha - took the audience from the world of opera, culture, politics and diplomacy on a musical journey from Mozart to Offenbach. They were accompanied by pianist Markus Zugehör, who was fortunately able to step in for Manuel Lange at short notice. The evening was hosted by Holger Noltze.

A big thank you to everyone involved - in front of and behind the stage - for this inspiring evening full of music, exchange and great artistic skill.

Our Winners 2024!

Magdalena Lucjan and Alejandro Baliñas Vieites win NEUE STIMMEN 2024, impressing the jury of world-renowned opera experts. They were followed in second place by Anita Monserrat and Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha. Third place in the men's category went to Finn Sagal. In the women's category, the prize went to two singers: Teona Todua and Seray Pinar. They received prize money with a total value of €65,000.

In addition, the jury chairman Dominique Meyer and his jury colleague Evamaria Wieser privately donated €2,000 as a prize for Ian Rucker, baritone from the United States.

Lin Fan received the Brian Dickie Young Talent Award. The Pantagonia Voice Award from the Fundación Teatro del Lago went to Anita Monserrat and Alejandro Balinas Vieites. The Audience Award also went to the bass from Spain.

NEUE STIMMEN President Liz Mohn warmly congratulates all the award winners: “My heartfelt congratulations to all the winners. It is always a special experience to see how hard these young people work on themselves and then come a step closer to their dream of a national or international opera career by winning.”

Our Finalists!

The semi-final has been completed and the NEUE STIMMEN finalists 2024 have been determined! Congratulations to:

Alejandro Baliñas Vieites
Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha
Anita Monserrat
Seray Pinar
lan Rucker
Martina Russomanno
Finn Sagal
Teona Todua

The young jurors honored the Bass Alejandro Baliñas Vieites from Spain and particularly highlighted his authenticity and stage presence. The Mascarade Opera Foundation once again awarded the Talent Develop-ment Prize. The prize was awarded to the Soprano Mariam Suleiman from Italy, who can look forward to a one-week training stay at their opera studio in Florence.

On Friday, October 11th, our finalists will be competing for the first prizes in the Stadthalle in Gütersloh from 7 pm, accompanied by the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Jonathan Darlington. We are looking forward to welcome numerous visitors, coming to experience the final in person.

In addition, there will be the opportunity to watch the grand final live on operavision.eu - so tune in and be part of it! The livestream can be found on our website.

Important update:
The semi-finalist Magdalena Lucjan was nominated by the jury to replace Martina Russomanno, who is unable to perform due to illness. She will compete in the final concert on Friday.

Next Stop: Final Round

It's less than two months away! Preparations for the final round week in Gütersloh are in full swing: schedules, biographies and program booklets are being prepared so that the week in October can run smoothly.

You will find the biographies of all finalists here on our website from the beginning of September.

Live Auditions are over!

We are delighted to announce that our live auditions have been completed. After 13 pre-selection locations and 600 auditions, 43 talented artists have now made it to the final round. It was an exciting time for all of us, and the high quality and diversity of the singers presented our jury with a particularly challenging task. The high level of performance and the varied performances made the selection a real challenge. The decision has now been made and we are delighted to be able to inform the qualified participants about the results.

The qualified singers can now prepare for the final round in Gütersloh in October. Stay tuned! We will announce the finalists soon - here on our website and on our social media channels.

Applications closed

The application period for the NEUE STIMMEN competition 2024 ended on 11 February. The last two days have been incredible and we thank everyone who applied! Our judges, Evamaria Wieser, Sophie Joyce and Brian Dickie, are now starting to evaluate the applications and videos. Once the judges have made their decision, we will let you know if you have made it to the next round of the competition - the live auditions.

Open Masterclasses

On October 25 and 26, those interested will have the opportunity to gain an exclusive insight into the training and development of talented opera singers. The public coaching sessions will take place on the Studio Stage of the Gütersloh Theater. Soprano Annette Dasch will provide artistic instruction to the singers. Movement coach John Norris will show the singers how to work with their bodies to achieve optimal sound results. The Open Masterclasses will take place on Wednesday, October 25 from 2 to 4 p.m. (Dasch) and Thursday, October 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Norris) on the Studio Stage of Theater Gütersloh and are free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

This year's Masterclass has officially begun.
12 singers from 11 nations have come to Gütersloh to participate in the International Masterclass of the NEUE STIMMEN. An intensive week of work awaits them here. Until October 29, the young talents from all over the world will receive individually tailored coaching in areas such as stage presence, performance psychology and media training. Experts from the NEUE STIMMEN network will give them valuable tips for career planning. This year's coaches are: internationally acclaimed soprano Annette Dasch, body and vocal coach John Norris, Dr. Ralph Strehle, director of a program for young singers in Italy, and well-known cultural journalist, presenter and classical music expert Axel Brüggemann. The Masterclass week will be crowned with a concluding concert in the foyer of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. There, the singers can present themselves and their skills to personalities from the worlds of business, culture and society, as well as to the media.  

Prize Winners Concert 2023

On 23 May, our traditional prize winners concert will take place, continuing from the previous competition. This year, for the first time, the concert will be held in the Apollosaal of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
The six prizewinners Francesca Pia Vitale, Carles Pachon, Eugénie Joneau, Sakhiwe Mkosana, Yewon Han and Dumitru Mitu will be able to present their skills once again to a selected audience. They will be accompanied on the piano by Manuel Lange, who is also responsible for the artistic advice of the concert.

Competition 2024

We have news about the next singing competition in 2024.
Here is an overview of the most important dates:

Application phase:
November 16, 2023 to January 31, 2024

Live Auditions:
April to June 2024

Final round:
October 5-12, 2024

As before, all singers of all nationalities who wish to pursue a professional opera career and were born on or after October 13, 1993 may apply. No exceptions will be made regarding the age limit.
Detailed information on the conditions of participation will follow in summer 2023.

Live Audition Season is over

The live auditions for the current 2021/22 competition have been completed. The last audition took place in Milan on December 11. In total, live auditions were held in 12 cities. The final round will take place in Gütersloh from June 26 - 30. The qualified finalists will be presented on our website and social media channels in early 2022.

Applications are closed

The application process for the 2021/22 NEUE STIMMEN competition was open until June 13. Now our jury members Brian Dickie, Sophie Joyce and Evamaria Wieser are screening and judging the submitted application videos. All singers will be informed in late summer whether they are accepted for the live auditions.

Neue Stimmen Connect/Re-Connect

During the past weeks we had contact with Neue Stimmen singers from the 2019 competition on severeal occasions. What a great joy! We laughed together, admired each others hair-do and talked about private and career matters, of course everything via video. In the sense of Connect and Re-Connect, we would like to encourage everyone from the Neue Stimmen family to communicate with us and with each other. Together we are strong.