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THE HIBLA GERZMAVA Opera Singers and Accompanists Competition

with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives

The Hibla Gerzmava Opera Singers and Accompanists Competition is initiated by Hibla Gerzmava, the People’s Artist of Russia and the Russian State Prize laureate. The Competition is supported by the Hibla Gerzmava Charitable Foundation .
The Competition will provide young performers with the opportunity to make their debut on the leading opera stages and to take part in concerts organized by the Hibla Gerzmava Foundation.

The Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre is the General Partner of the Competition.
The Competition will be held once every two years, gradually expanding the geography of participants, varying formats, and updating the repertoire.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

The International Opera Singers and Accompanists Competition will bring together leading singers, directors, conductors, and opera agents as members of the Jury and the Expert Council.
The Jury will be chaired by Hibla Gerzmava.

Winners of the Competition will not only receive monetary prizes but will also have the opportunity to make their debut on the opera stages of the best theatres of Russia.

PARTICIPANTS OF THE COMPETITION

Vocalists with a university degree, or students of musical schools.
Participants must be between 21 and 36 years of age.
All types of voices representing any country in the world may participate in the Competition.

Accompanists, who have higher musical education or students of musical schools.
Participants must be between 20 and 35 years of age.

A maximum of 40 vocalists and 20 accompanists are selected for the First Round, which will be held in-person.
Vocalists and accompanists selected for the in-person competition rounds will have their travel and accommodation in Moscow covered by the Organizer. No entry fee is required.

ROUNDS OF THE COMPETITION

PRELIMINARY AUDITION
From March 1 to August 1, 2024

Applicants must submit a video recording of a performance of two different arias, or a link to view this video recording on a file-sharing or internet resource:

  • video must be of high quality (in MP4 or AVI format)
  • only video recordings created in 2023/24 will be accepted
  • no video editing is allowed, except for multi-camera filming of the performance
  • any audio editing is forbidden
  • all works are to be performed by vocalists from memory, in their original language and key tonality
COMPETITION
First round January 15-16 2025

For the First Round of the Main Vocal Competition a participant must perform three (3) arias:

  • an aria from any Mozart opera
  • an aria from an opera composed in the 19th – early 20th century from the suggested list (Appendix 1), for countertenors – arias by composers of the 18th and early 19th centuries from the suggested list Appendix 1a
  • an aria from an opera by a composer of the 20th–21st centuries from the suggested list (see Appendix 1b)
Second Round January 18 (solo), 19 (duets) 2025

Competition auditions will be held with piano accompaniment.

Second Round programme:

  • folk song a cappella
  • an aria from a classical operetta from the suggested list (Appendix 2)
  • for countertenors, instead of an aria from a classical operetta, an aria chosen by the participant from the suggested list (Appendix 2a)
  • duet or duet scene from the proposed list (Appendix 2), performed with an illustrator vocalist or contestant
  • an aria of the performer’s choice
Third Round January 21, 2025

The Third Round shall be accompanied by the theatre symphony orchestra.
Two pieces must be performed in the Third Round (arias of the performer’s choice;
one aria from an opera by a Russian composer of the 19th–21st century)

PRELIMINARY AUDITIONS
From March 1 to August 1, 2024

Concertmasters should send a recording of: a scene from the opera (without the vocalist-illustrator, the concertmaster is welcome to illustrate the vocal part himself); accompaniment of an aria from the opera with the vocalist-illustrator (free choice)

Applicants must submit a video recording or a link to view the video recording on a file-sharing or internet resource: a scene from an opera (without a collaborative vocalist, an accompanist is encouraged to hum the vocal part); an accompaniment of an aria from an opera with a collaborative vocalist (free choice).

Video recording requirements:

  • video must be of high quality (in MP4 or AVI format)
  • only video recordings created in 2022 will be accepted
  • no video editing is allowed, except for multi-camera filming of the performance
  • any audio editing is forbidden
COMPETITION
First Round January 17, 2025

In the First Round an accompanist must perform an accompaniment to a vocalist-participant or a collaborative vocalist:

  • an aria from any Mozart opera, a concert aria by Mozart or an aria by Bach
  • an art song/lieder by 19th-20th century composers of the performer’s choice
  • an aria from an opera of the 20th century of the performer’s choice
Second Round January 19, 2025

Second Round programme:

  • reading from the sheet
  • performance of a scene from an opera from the list suggested by the Organiser
  • working with the vocalist on the aria or an art song according to the suggested list. The list will be presented after the First Round. The General Partner gives the opportunity to work with one of the artists of the opera company.
Third Round January 21, 2025
  • An aria from the opera (of the contestant’s choice)
  • An art song/lieder (of the contestant’s choice).
  • One of the works performed in the third round must be written by a Russian composer of the 19th – 21st century.

Dates and venue

March 1 – August 1, 2024

Accepting applications

October 15, 2024

Announcement of participants admitted to the Main Competition

January 24, 2025

Gala Concert of winners and laureates

January 15-21 2025

COMPETITION

January 24, 2025

Gala Concert of winners and laureates

Season 2025/2026

Stage debut

PRIZES AND AWARDS

Prize fund for the competition

will amount to 13 200 000 rubles and special prizes

Vocalists:
Grand Prix
2 500 000 ₽

Debut on the stage of the General Partner or other music/opera theatre
First prize
1 500 000 ₽

Debut on the stage of the General Partner or other music/opera theatre
Second prize
1 200 000 ₽
Third prize
1 000 000 ₽
Accompanists:
First prize
1 500 000 ₽
Second prize
1 000 000 ₽
Third prize
800 000 ₽
Special prizes for singers and accompanists

The Jury
of the competition

Hibla Gerzmava

Hibla Gerzmava is a People’s Artist of Russia, People’s Artist of Abkhazia, State Prize Winner of the Russian Federation. Laureate of the international competitions such as Verdian voices Busseto (Italy), Francesc Viñas in Barcelona, and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in Saint Petersburg. In 1994, the singer won the International Competition named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, becoming the first in the history of the competition to win the Grand Prix.

Today, Hibla Gerzmava is one of the most sought-after singers of our time. She has performed at the world’s leading opera stages: the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Metropolitan Opera, the Covent Garden, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Paris Theater of the Champs-Elysées and the Teatro Châtel, the Real Theater of Madrid, the Barcelona Liceu Theatre, the Roman Opera, the Florentine Komunale Theatre, the Zemper Opera in Dresden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Opera of Zurich, the Sofia Opera, the Ludwigsburg Festival in Germany, and many others.

Hibla Gerzmava has been the winner of the Golden Orpheus award (2001) and Casta Diva (2010) in the category Best Singer, Moscow City Prize in literature and art (2010), Triumph Prize (2011), of the two National Theatre Prizes Golden Mask (2012, 2016), Prize of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the field of culture and art (2021).

The competition
team

Olga Bestuzheva

The curator of the Сompetition
+79151614557
info@competitionhibla.ru

Natalya Klimenkova

The chief of Projects of the Hibla Gerzmava Foundation
office@hiblapro.ru

Irina Gorbunova

Head of the music direction of the Competition
info@competitionhibla.ru

Elena Bukhmak

PR manager
+79168492711
pr@competitionhibla.ru

Andrey Chernomurov

project coordinator from the general partner of the competition - the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich Danchenko Moscow Academic Musical Theater

Olga Bestuzheva

The curator of the Сompetition
+79151614557
info@competitionhibla.ru

Natalya Klimenkova

The chief of Projects of the Hibla Gerzmava Foundation
office@hiblapro.ru

Irina Gorbunova

Head of the music direction of the Competition
info@competitionhibla.ru

Elena Bukhmak

PR manager
+79168492711
pr@competitionhibla.ru

Andrey Chernomurov

project coordinator from the general partner of the competition - the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich Danchenko Moscow Academic Musical Theater

PARTNERS
of the competition

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